


Temporal Displacement [ARCHIVED] {Rewrite in progress]

by ArchaicNightfall



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Asexual main character, Family Relationships - Freeform, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, No Smut, Nonbinary Frisk, Other, Past Abuse Mention, Self-Insert, Temporary Character Death, bone breakage, epic levels of snark, lots of flashbacks, my precious skull babies that shoot lazers, people being badass, puns for years, so many, so many gaster blasters, tags update as fic progresses, the void is sentient, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-23 08:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8321497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchaicNightfall/pseuds/ArchaicNightfall
Summary: [Rewrite in progress, ETA unknown]





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> Not one of my first works on here. And it's not going to be the last. This is mostly for my personal enjoyment, and me wanting to have some fun with character interactions. I may have some OOCness, and I'm sorry for that, sometimes my muses don't want to get in character.
> 
> Updates sporadically.

**Extra notes from the person behind the story: Just a little helpful tip for all of you readers. Everything that I say will be in [something like this in a bold text], if a character is thinking or if it's canon in the fic, it'll typically be** ( _Like this_ )  **I'm doing this to clear off any confusion as to why there are random parenthesis.**

 

I personally, have never played the game _Undertale_ myself. Not even once. In fact, I don’t even own the game. It wasn’t that I hate video games, believe me, I’m far from hating video games. I love them, they are one of the few things that never gets old no matter how many times you play it, even if you put them down for a bit, it’s easy to re-submerge yourself within the game’s lore.

 

I absolutely love how creative the creators were in making the various environments and characters. How they gave everyone such unique personalities and characteristics. With many traits that we an identify with, along with their moods and goals that made them seem almost real.

 

Judging by how much the _Undertale Fandom_ likes their characters, I’m inclined to agree.

 

The reason for me not buying the game?

 

Well…

 

It was more or less laziness on my part, but also due to the fact that I was a pretty cheap person. Never did like buying things. But I wasn't that rude person who was desperate enough to try and pirate the game. I do have standards, however fleeting they are. Even though the game was only 10 USD, and that I could easily re-earn that money with a single icon commission. I was merely satisfied enough to watch other people play the games. As well as being a bystander cheering them all on. Or cringing every time they decided to do a “I’m a sadist and I want to dust everyone that I come across” run. 

 

Bleh.

 

Never did like any of those “Kill All” runs. It always left a bitter taste in my mouth ( _and the taste of salt from tears too. Why did I have to get so attached to video game characters?)_

 

The fandom was really one of the main reasons why I was still even remotely attached, or still interested in the game. The fans made it all interesting with the many, if not thousands of headcanons, fanart, stories and alternate universes. _(I enjoyed reading all of their works, even if the smut was a occasionally little overboard on some of the works that I've read, at least it's skippable for the most part. No offence, to anyone who likes that sort of thing. I'm just thankful that everyone is so kind to let people have a heads up on the fics. I really appreciate it.)_

 

You see, I have the mental patience equivalent to that of a squirrel, I have a really difficult time staying dedicated to a fandom. This is one of the reasons why I believe that if I was in the _Undertale_ universe, cyan would definitely  _not_ be a color in my soul.

 

The night all of this started was like any other night. Where I live, we never have snow. Sure we do get hail on the very slim occasion that it's cold enough when we actually get some forms of precipitation. So the winters were not too much of an issue to deal with. As our winters never _really_ started until mid November or early December. On a clear night like this, what did I have to worry about?

 

A lot apparently.

 

I was sitting at my desk zoning out to who knows what, music perhaps. My memory about the whole situation was pretty foggy. I knew that I was at home, considering that I had a meal of chicken and rice before I retired to my room for the night. But anyways, I was just doing my regular old thing, drumming my hands on the wood of the desk, and humming along to whatever I was listening too, _Electric Feel,_ that one remix by _Justice_ I think, god that’s such a wonderful and catchy song. I can listen to it for hours and not get tired of it.

 

See? Complete and total squirrel. I’m _already_ sidetracked.

 

This is already going along swimmingly.

 

Anyway. It was all fine until my computer decided that it would be a wonderful time to randomly turn off on me. When the screen went black, I wasn’t frustrated, nor was I annoyed. My computer would crash occasionally, it was nothing new. All I had to do was turn the computer back on. However, whatever happened after? That was still a mystery. If anything I don’t remember what happened next. I think there was some text on my screen or something, looking like symbols. But no matter how hard I tried I still cannot remember what it said. It’s frustrating, remembering so much from that night, but still missing that one piece of the puzzle.

 

I passed out, at least. I _think_ I did.

 

If I did pass out however. I’m assuming that it was on my desk like the mentally exhausted college student that I was. How flattering. Whoever found me the next morning probably saw some poor teen face down in a pool of her own drool. And then they found that I wouldn’t wake up no matter how hard they tried to shake me awake-  my body never stirred.

 

I was still breathing, but I just wasn’t _there_ anymore.

 

You know, cause my soul decided to take a journey into the wonderful world of Undertale.

 

How delightful.


	2. Snowy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was useless. 
> 
> It was too cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is still updating at random times, I think that the chapters should be getting longer as time goes on. I'm still doing this for fun, and I need to do something for once. It's nice to do something.

 

**[There would be a Title Card here, but I am unfamiliar with placing art on this website.]**

 

My head hurt. It was this practically mind numbing pain that was sending sparks and stars across my vision with the sheer intensity of it. It was agony, it pounded and pounded against my skull, like some construction worker decided to take a jackhammer to my poor skull and turn it on to it’s highest speed. I whimpered and curled up into a tight ball.

 

My hands shaking as they gripped my hair, not quite pulling with white knuckles. It was still dark outside, but freezing cold. I could feel an icy wind bearing down upon me. The bitter chill getting under my skin and seeping into my bones, causing me to shiver violently.

 

The mere motion of me moving my arms around was causing the pain in my head to practically double. I wanted to scream or cry, do _anything_ really. If it meant keeping my mind off the pain that continued to linger in my skull.

 

Something was speaking to me in panicked fractured sentences. And I whimpered painfully in response, sounding like a wounded animal with the high pitched noise, and the fractured babbling quickly slowed down realizing my distress. After a while, the speaking started up again, this time much less panicked and spoken lower. And I felt a hand gently rubbing my back, in smooth circles across the thin fabric of my t-shirt.  

 

It reminded me of my dad keeping me company when I had taken a tumble down a steep hill when I was seven, nearly fracturing my ankle as I went down. He had done the same exact things, speaking in gentle measured tones and rubbing my back to distract me from the pain. It was comforting, and I found myself instinctively calming down. My breathing calming from the sharp quick bursts, to carefully controlled breaths.

 

The white hot pain gradually subsided into a dull ache, I don’t know how many minutes passed. But I eventually found myself able to focus, and I let out a sigh of relief, my tensed muscles quickly relaxing and I slumped from my rigid position. It was still cold, and the comforting voice had gone silent. I found myself blearily realizing that it shouldn’t be this cold, and my eyes opened in a flash. My home was never this cold, not even when it was winter time. Now that I could finally focus, I realized for the second time that day, that I had no idea where I was.

 

I was in a forest, the white snow a dark purple, almost black from the little amount of light that was there, the clouds were thick and rolling, I could see some light from the moon, barely peeking out occasionally from behind the dense cloud cover. There were trees, all of them with their leaves gone, ice and snow clinging their branches.

 

I honestly felt stupid, sitting there in the snow with too thin pajamas with little bone patterns on the legs, not to mention wearing bunny slippers, and surrounded by a hefty amount of snow. I could see my imprint within the otherwise pristine whiteness. However it seemed as if the snow had been _blasted_ away for the most part. I shivered violently, pulling my knees up to my chest and tucking my bare arms close to my core in an effort to keep warm.

 

My teeth clacked together as the chills raced up my spine, and spreading through my nerves like a frozen fire. I felt like a trembling kitten. Something touched my shoulder and I promptly spazzed with a muted shout of surprise. Anxiety slammed into my chest, and my entire being shuddered in panic. The hand withdrew as if burned upon me scrambling forwards. Someone had touched me and I hadn't even heard them.

 

 _“Wa-- Ple-s-! D--n’t g-”_ A distinctly male voice cried out, warped and strangely mechanical, and I stopped in surprise.

 

The voice was so _shattered_ and _broken_ , I shouldn’t be able to understand it with how distorted it all was. But somehow, despite all of this, I could _still_ understand them. And I suddenly felt like the most awful person to have ever existed on the face of the planet. They sounded so lonely, so scared and terrified that it caused regret to fill my chest.

 

Memories, triggered by the voice’s pain, slowly came back to me in flashes, the person waking up, seeing me out cold in the snow, my weak cries of pain, one by one. And something in my chest twinged, and I felt warm. Whoever this person was, he had been beside me during the most painful migraine I have ever gotten in my life. He had been trying to give me comfort.

 

There was only one thing I could do. Squaring my shoulders, I breathed in and-

 

-turned around shakily, only to promptly fall on my arse in shock.

 

He was taller than me, very much so, at least six, to six feet eight inches tall. He was dressed rather warmly. And I felt a bit jealous, it looked so much better than the poor excuse for pajamas that I was wearing. He was wearing a black robe, so long that it touched the floor. As well as a white, _(no lavender, I could barely see the purple tint)_ turtleneck sweater beneath the robes, only visible around his neck.

 

He wasn’t human, far from it.

 

He was a _skeleton_ . An honest to whatever deity that is out there, **bonefied** skeleton-

 

He was made out of a slightly purple tinted porcelain bone, it was difficult to see the true color with the near pitch darkness of the sky. He had a slightly elongated face with gently curved cheekbones. His eyes were pitch black sockets, tiny pinpricks of purple lights staring back at me. And the most notable traits about him, was the fact that he had cracks, one going up from his right eye and up his skull, and the second coming from below his left eye.

 

I recognized him, I had to be stupid _not_ to recognize him.

 

Because, he was W.D. Gaster.

 

The man who speaks in hands, who fell into his own creation, the core that powered the entire underground, and was shattered across time and space. Who's background was an enigma in itself. He was everything and nothing. And somehow he was _here._ I shouldn’t remember him, he wasn’t supposed to exist and yet he was right in front of me. Albeit slightly transparent and see through.

 

“What- What’s going on?” My voice cracked at the end as I stood up, my legs trembling from the cold, and possible fear.

 

 _“I apologize my dear…”_ He responded once more, and this time I realized that I could understand him perfectly. The mechanicalness was still there, but fractured speaking was gone, and he sounded as clear as crystal. _“I did not mean to frighten you.”_

 

I myself was at a loss of what to say, what could I say really? That he’s not supposed to exist, and that this was probably some sort of bizarre fever dream, that this was all some fabricated reality, and that I had possibly should be placed in a mental hospital hospital because I was clearly hallucinating. _Or_ someone was pulling a really awful prank, if that was the case, it's time to end some friendships.

 

So I opened my mouth and said-

 

“You’re not supposed to exist-” _Oh golly, I just messed up faster than when I insulted my brother on accident right in front of my mom... Already digging a grave. Darn._

 

_Smooth Kira. Smooth as sandpaper._

 

Gaster flinched at that simple statement and I immediately felt like the world's largest douche bag. “I mean- Goodness, I’m so sorry. It’s really cold and I’m making bad decisions.” I stuttered back, feeling quite out of my depth, and I looked at the ground, kicking up the snow with my now soggy slipper. I felt like I was seven again, the feeling of shame creeping up my spine.

 

 _“It’s quite alright. I’m used to such reactions.”_ And I winced at his humourless laugh. _“By all accounts, you are correct, I shouldn't exist. I haven’t physically existed in many years... and neither should you. This isn’t your world.”_

 

“For all the shouldn’ts that we’ve listed off. Here we are a-an-anyway with all of these possibilities. We-were both living, kind of.” I stammered back, scratching at the back of my neck and meeting his eyes. “I’m physically here, I’m a-assuming con-considering that wh-whe-when I woke up, I was feeling pain. And still feeling things, ev- even it’s the freezing cold, and co-confused panic. You are kind of, intangible, most likely to ev-eve-everyone else.”

 

He continued to stare at me, something flickering in his eye-lights that I couldn't place, and I didn’t know what to do. “I’m sorry. I-I’m r-rambling. I d-do tha-that lot.”

 

I coughed harshly, now that the awkwardness and the cold had settled in. It was then that I realized that I was starting to succumb to the difficult conditions that rested on my body. How long was I out for anyway? I could barely feel my nose anymore, nor could I really feel my feet through the icy cold that penetrated straight through the wet bunny slippers.

 

It was really cold, now that I focused on it. Bad idea, that was an _awful_ Idea, I should have remained ignorant to the cold. Oh dear, this is so not good. Not good at all.

 

“O-oh goodness, I’m no-not gonna l-la-ast in this weather, It’s to-t-too cold for me.” I choked out between my body wracking coughs, wheezing as the bitter cold invaded my lungs, and I frantically rubbed at my arms with my hands, which were also freezing.

 

I couldn’t stand for much longer, and I sat down. The cold was biting, almost painful. But I gritted my teeth and tried my best at  ignoring the cold seeping into my body as I sat on the ice and snow covered ground, pulling my knees up to my chest once more to try and warm up. I reached my freezing hands up to my face, cupping them around my mouth, and breathing heated air from my lungs in an effort to warm them up.

 

It was useless.

 

It was too cold.

 

I paused in my ministrations upon the familiar feeling of one of Gaster’s hands resting upon my shoulder. I quickly snuck a glance at his hand. Noticing the perfect circular holes cut within the metacarpal bones of his hand, and I rubbed my left palm unconsciously. It looked odd and uncomfortable.

 

 _“I don't feel the cold. You could say that it…_ **_goes right through me._ ** _”_ I laughed at the unexpectedness of his pun, I had heard it many times, but hearing it in his voice was all the more amusing to me. I must be going delirious. I had to be. _“It must be quite cold for you then, my dear. Your HP is going down, slowly but enough to be worrying.”_

 

I ignored the comment about my HP I was too tired to really _bother_ with asking about it. I never did have enough motivation to pick up a fight with an already losing battle.

 

“Y-yeah, It-’s p-pr-pretty c-c-old. I’m from the w-we-west. It’s n-ne-never this c-old. I-It reminds me of th-the time when I ac-acci-accidentally got locked out in th-the snow wh-when I was el-eleven. Th-that wa-was _awful_ ,” I recalled with a bitter laugh. That day had been a long and tiring one, the heat from the room when I finally got back inside _burned._

 

Yet, if there was heat today. I’d welcome it with open arms. I like the cold, it’s better than over 100 degree heat during the summer. But this was _too_ much cold.

 

I decided to pay attention to the most solid factor ever since I had clawed my way out of consciousness, Gaster himself.

 

Even though Gaster was a ghost of some sort, it was kind of cool how he could _touch_ me. Like, honest to goodness contact. His hands were _solid_ and most importantly _warm_ on my shoulder. And with the cold bearing down upon me, I found my eyes closing just by feeling that slightest amount of heat.

 

I sat there for a while, dead silent, the only sound was my harsh breathing, the warm breaths turning into clouds of fog, before crystallizing even further as it left my mouth. I sniffled in exhaustion, the cold making my nose run. It was too cold to be awake. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that I was experiencing hypothermia, my temperature had no doubt had plummeted. My feet and hands were ice cold, not to mention completely numb, I couldn’t even feel them. When I moved my arms, they were almost locked up.

 

My mind felt oddly foggy all of a sudden, everything catching up to me in a second before fading. Thinking was so _slow_ now, nothing seemed to be connecting within my head.

 

Maybe If I closed my eyes, the cold would go away. I was so tired and exhausted. I could hear Gaster was starting to talk again, but I couldn’t bring myself to listen fully. I was so tired, and it was just so cold. His voice was a welcome background noise.

 

My eyes slid shut.

 

* * *

 

Gaster was panicking.

 

The human had passed out in the snow. He had watched as her soul, a vivid collage of many colors and was oh so bright, was starting to become duller, the pulses of energy slowing down. He himself hadn’t felt the cold, if only slightly chilled but to her, the cold was debilitating.

 

He watched as her HP, which was already one of the highest hed seen out of most humans for having no LV or EXP, was counting down at fast rate decimal by decimal. Morning was a long time away, and even then, the weather would be too cold. The sky was filled with heavy clouds, pitch dark in the nighttime sky, and to make things worse, snow still falling down in gentle swirls. She’d never wake up from her curled up position against the snowbank, frozen to death.

 

He stood in silence, staring down at his hands, the familiar circular cuts in his metacarpals visible in the dark. He had managed to touch her. The thought echoing in his head.

 

It had been a long time since he had ever physically held or touched anything. In the Void, and even out of it, He phased through everything, through walls and sheets of metal, even liquids. He was broken across time and space, his being was everything and nothing. It was merely sheer habit that he teleported around, finding it easier to appear in places instead of having to 'physically' float his way around. He had been trapped in the void for a long time, time passes differently there, even if the time he had spent was only years in the real world, to him, he had been gone for many, many, _many_ decades.

 

Seeing the thousands upon billions of timelines all at once. He knew that there were other versions like him, who had gone either insane or mad with power over seeing the trillions of trillions of timelines. Some who were downright evil or psychotic, others with grey morals that didn't hurt on purpose, but some of the things they did were questionable. And there were some that were exactly like him, wanting and trying their best to get back to their sons.

 

By the Delta Rune, how he missed his sons.

 

Somehow, he had gotten out of the void. He had found the human, floating in the darkness. Her soul was out of her body, the symbolic heart a glowing beacon in the pitch darkness of the void. She was completely unaware of the impossible place that she had been seemingly dumped into. And her soul was not taking it lightly. It was screaming into the shadows for help. And his blasters had found the soul, alerting him with worried whines and whimpers. They had crowded around the unconscious human, nudging her with their snouts. Gaster had no idea how to get the human out, nor did he know of a way to send her back to where she came from.

 

Then her soul darted forwards, even though he had quickly warped back a foot, he felt a tugging sensation upon his soul. He started at the white upside down heart, with the many cracks and fractured marks upon its glowing surface, It radiated a gentle lavender glow, that marked the soul as his. The other more vibrant and colorful soul quickly merging with his soul that was suddenly manifested out of his body. There was a massive surge of energy, the void hissing at the light the fuse created, and the human’s soul had gone bloody, vivid red.

 

Moments later, his world had gone a pure _blinding_ white, and the Doctor found himself dragged unconscious.

 

When he had finally come to, the human was whimpering in agony. Curled up into the tightest ball he’d ever seen, her hands clawing at her skull, gripping onto the short brown locks upon her head. Her soul was back to it’s original color, the bright red of determination gone. He had crouched down, trying his best to calm her down, he hadn’t spoken english in a long time. But upon hearing him speak, the human whined piteously, and tried to curl up even more.

 

He stood there for a moment, before switching tactics. Going into “mom mode” as Sans would call it, whenever Gaster had fussed over him or Papyrus. He had spoken quietly and calmly, gently rubbing her spine, and a memory that wasn’t his surged forwards pulsing in his soul.

 

 _-The sky shone a vivid azure, large and white clouds hovering within the bright blue expanse. The warmth of the sun on his face, was a nice comfortable sensation. He found himself walking on a concrete sidewalk, grass in many shades of verdant hues were blowing in the breeze. The air was not too hot, nor too cold. He was in a clearing of some sort, large oak trees with thick trunks were growing in clusters surrounded by colorful rocks and stones. He was walking with an older human who looked similar to the girl lying down in the snow._ _He laughed, a childish and innocent giggle at something the elder human had said, before running forwards in a burst of speed, as fast as his little legs could take him. Until something gave out in his ankle, and he found himself pitching sideways, the world spinning as he found himself rolling down a steep hill, his ankle slammed into something and pain exploded in the joint, and Gaster cried out in pained wails and sobs. Tears dripping down his face. The elder human, the was quick to rush after him, in a more controlled manner. And began to comfort Gaster through his tears._

 

It was then that he realized that he wasn't himself, but the _child_.

 

He was reliving a memory that the human’s soul had _transferred_ over.

 

He then found himself back in the snow, and he felt cold. It was an unfamiliar sensation that quickly faded away. Eventually the human sat up, the debilitating pain that she was in had dulled enough to the point that she was finally coherent. She was turned away from him and seemingly confused. When he placed his hand upon her shoulder, she scrambled forwards in terror. He had cried out, expecting the human to continue on a mad dash for freedom. Only she didn’t, turning around and looking at him, actually looking at him right in the eyes.

 

The rest was history.

 

Now, She had gone silent, even though he tried his best to shake her back to consciousness, she remained still and out cold. The only thing active about her, was her soul. Her soul was using _magic_.

 

This was supposed to be impossible.

 

Humans simply never had the capacity to cast _any_ spells or attacks, there had been rumors of some of them using magic, but those records were long since gone. Yet, despite this impossibility, her soul’s magic was pulsing slowly in tandem with her heart beat. The green tinted magic, trying it’s best to heal her steadily decreasing HP. As far as Gaster knew, Humans couldn’t use magic, nor could they ever. As Mages were an entirely different species, whose bodies were more solid than that of a monsters, but more fragile than that of a human's, both Mages and Monsters would turn into dust upon their deaths, while the monster’s soul would also disintegrate, a mage’s soul would gradually fade away over time.

 

Yet, somehow this human’s soul was trying it’s absolute best to use it’s own magic, which should have been impossible. And was trying to also use his.

 

Whatever had pushed them out of the void. It had linked their souls together as well, manipulating her being into a fuse, it was so wrong, but it was as if the void had willed it. The void was always strange, and since they both were in it's domain, this was most likely some penalty. If he concentrated his sight upon the human’s soul, he could see a sliver of whitish-purple beneath the polished depths. And when he looked at his, he could see color within the otherwise pure white of his soul. This wasn't what he had expected. Her breathing was becoming quieter and quieter. Her body was now shaking and trembling violently, her teeth chattering. He noticed that her eyelashes had a thin, crust of ice. The cold was freezing the condensation, even her lips which originally had a pink tint, was now a purple.

 

As time passed, how much he didn’t know. He stopped being able to tell the time ever since he’d fallen into the void. The shivering stopped and her breathing became laboured, and her HP dropped suddenly. The former heath ticking down by decimal points was now going by 2’s and 3’s. Her soul had also stopped emitting the healing magic.

 

It seemed as If she was giving up.

 

He felt that raw, unchained panic, building up behind his sternum. Gaster knew that he could touch her, possibly hold her. Maybe he could make a shortcut, to get her somewhere safe. This universe was his home, he’d always kept track of his home. A place that was warm and safe, and Gaster knew just the place to take her too. He bent down, his black coat touching the floor, and picked her up gently, taking the human into his arms. Purple magic flared in his left eye, drifting through the air like a raging fire. Several transparent purple hands, each like his own fitted with the circle cut into the palm, hovered in mid air, their lavender magic flickering brightly.

 

Yet none of that light showed within the darkened forest.

 

The hands blurred into motion, the four of them cutting a large hole in the fabric of time and space. Tall enough that he could easily pass on through without bumping the edges of the portal. The edges were dangerous. The void whispered out of the shortcut, the black energy crackling from the edges, and a chill ran up Gaster’s spine. There was a chance that he’d be trapped once more, but as he took one last glance at the human, determination burned in his soul, tinting it red, and the child's soul responded in kind.

 

He wouldn’t let her freeze out here, not when she had a piece of him stuck in her own soul.

 

There was something else motivating him and-

 

_-For a split second, he was reminded of Sans- So tired and so, so sad. His lab coat torn and dirty at the edges, the stitching falling apart. Curled up in a tight closed up ball in the corner of the lab, surrounded by scraps of torn and burnt paper.The ashes spread out like snow. There was something resting near Sans's side. A picture of a crude’s child drawing, three figures smiling in happiness, with the words “do not forget” written is a quick and panicked scrawl-_

 

-He stepped on through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to comment down below. Don't be afraid to leave some kudos, cause I'm also Undertale garbage too! 
> 
> Have a lovely day/and/or night, and don't forget to drink water!


	3. Fallen Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Gaster steps out of the portal, he quickly finds that the world has reset. 
> 
> It seems as if nothing has changed. Another reset just like all the others. What he doesn't realize however is that a new game mechanic has been added to their world. It’s only a matter of time until the changes begin to show, no matter how small they may seem to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya everyone!
> 
> This story has a Question and Answer blog on Tumblr, at (x-temporal-displacement.tumblr.com). I will be posting status updates on what I've written. And some of the characters in the story can respond to what you ask.
> 
> This chapter was at a spacing of 1.5. Coming out at 20 pages and contains 6,949 words!

 

He found himself back in the void, the doorway he had opened sealing shut behind him with a low hiss.

 

The void was oddly silent, it had always been silent. However, there was always the horribly loud, mind-numbing static, that filled his skull, leaving him  _ wanting  _ to hear something. And try as Gaster might, none of the timelines jumped out at him, they had all been silenced. He was grateful for that, for suddenly being able to think clearly was a blessing. Seeing the millions of timelines all at once, yet not at once, was always confusing and maddening.

 

The silence-

 

The silence was blissful.

 

The humans breathing was still shallow, her limbs all stiff from the cold. They had both been passed out for who knows long in the beginning of all this. And with the human’s awakening, painless at first, until a migraine ripped through the bond the skeleton monster and the human shared-

 

-and it _ hurt _ , the migraine was one of the most painful things he’d felt. It wasn’t in his pain, it was coming from the soul fragments shared between both of their souls. Her pain overflowing into his soul.

 

While his pain hurt something awful. The human was hurting more than he was, considering that the pain was not only coming from her soul but from her head, just behind the eyes, an ocular migraine. Gaster was used to pain, the human, however, was not. She’d never broken a bone, the worst pain she had gotten was a from a near sprain on the left middle finger when a ball had bent it back too far and the bones scraped together- that had been significantly less painful than the migraine that had just occurred.

 

It was a sobering thought, that even a human could be weaker to that of a monster at times.

 

He didn’t know what he was feeling for the human. Even though he was a monster. First and foremost, he was a scientist . Everything he did, whether it be teaching the study of magic in his younger years, fighting in the great battle that took place before the barrier was put up. Then later creating the core, and the innermost workings of the DT experiments, they were all for the sake of science and learning. But... looking down at the human- no, the  _ child _ his mind snapped back at him patronizingly. He felt an odd sense of wanting to protect, the same feeling that he had when he held Sans and Papyrus when they were first born, when they learned their first words, graduating from school- _Ah_.

 

He was being _fatherly_.

 

A thought that should have scared him.

 

She wasn’t _ his _ child, he didn’t even know her name. Yet, it was a  _ feeling _ that he hadn't felt in years. In the beginning, he had felt something after falling into the void. The reminiscence of the first taste of an alternate timeline. It tasted like burning rage and hate. The immense and scalding anger that he had felt by watching the red soul human, Frisk, killing everyone he knew and cared about, or the feeling of hopelessness that he always felt upon realizing that he was stuck. It was very rare that he felt anything new.

 

All in all, Gaster welcomed the feeling. Maybe he could _ feel _ like a father again.

 

In his timeline, Frisk and the rest of his family and friends had reached the surface. It only took a week and a half for the mage-child to reset.  Then proceeded to repeat the same thing, or sometimes they would kill some monsters, about one or two, other times they would kill hundreds of monsters, or they would hunt down everyone, even his sons, and dust them too.

 

One reset becoming two, two resets becoming ten. Ten resets becoming eighty.

 

And now, They were on reset number eighty-nine. It had been about three years since the last time Frisk reset. And everything seemed to be happy. Toriel with her school, Asgore running his flower shop, Undyne, and Alphys happily living together. His sons, doing what they always did, Papyrus driving his car through the streets, playing with the mage-child, and Sans seemed happy, assuming that just because it had been an entire two years since, that the resets weren’t going to happen.

 

They always happen at one point.

 

He felt something bump against his back. Startled, the lavender magic in his eye flared in response, and he turned around in a flash. A blaster, one of the largest he had ever seen, was staring down at him. Even bigger than the leader of his herd of blasters.

 

It was not his, nor was it one of Sans's, nor was it one of Papyrus’s. His blasters took the form of deer skulls with tall and proud pronged horns, diligent and slow. Sans’s and Papyrus's blasters were more vulpine and dog like, quick to move around, with the equivalent mental capacity of a human dog. This one was massive, it had a lizardian look to it, with four horns on its head, two short ones, still knife sharp sitting slightly above the blaster’s massive eyes. The larger horns, extended from the upper back of the skull and were slightly curved back like the horns of an oryx. It had three eyes on its massive head, one in the forehead area.

 

It reminded him of all of those humans tales or the monstrous dragons. And he felt like laughing. Of course, there would be draconic-blasters.

 

The void never did like creating normal,  _ realistic _ , species.

 

It bumped into him again, staring down at the child in his arms. It’s left eye, a bright red, ignited with a bright greenish blue, some red drifted in the verdant magic, and he blinked when the child’s right eye flared in response, the same energy lighting up the eyelid that covered it. He gaped, open-mouthed in surprise. Apparently, her time in the void was just enough to call a blaster to her, and it bound itself in her magic. The gigantic dragon-blaster let out a delighted chirp. And suddenly he was _ swarmed _ by other blasters. All chirping, clicking and singing happily, their skeletal snouts nudging the still freezing child in his arms. He found some of his own amongst the other dragon blasters; All of them were stealing quick glances and letting out soft noises and bumping into his arms, mindful of their branch-like horns.  

 

The soul bond that they shared must have called all of these blasters out of the darkness, he didn't even recognize any of the dragon-blasters. All of them were practically brand  _ new _ and in varying different sizes, different horn shapes, and eye structure. Instead of the typical bleached white bones like the ones Gaster had observed with his sons and his own blasters, some of the newer ones were varying in colors of pastels, or white but with some color. Some of their eyes were a bright vibrant green, others had calm blues and electric yellows. The largest one, the alpha, was the only one out of about thirty other dragon-blasters, had bright red eyes, reminiscent of a dark fire. All of their eyes shone with intelligence, a frightening amount of intelligent. These ones were smarter than his son’s blasters, and possibly the equivalent of his, they knew that something was wrong with the child prior to Gaster traveling back through the void.

 

Her HP had since then, stopped ticking down, frozen at a solid 602. She was still breathing, the inhales and exhales light and shallow, but she was still alive. And that made relief fill his system. The blasters, sensing that he wanted to leave whined sadly but ultimately backed off respectfully. The Alpha rumbled a warning, red eyes flaring and it’s jaw snapped once, before it let out a lower chirp and the other blasters pulled back as well. A small, of the smallest blasters that Gaster had ever seen, its bones a dull red, gave one last nuzzle to the human before glitching back into the void’s shadows.

 

Sighing, his blasters also faded off, leaving just him, and the child, standing alone in the darkness.

 

His magic flared again, burning a brighter, more vivid and saturated purple, blazing up his skull and flickering like a roaring flame. The hands appeared again, hovering for a few seconds before cutting an exit hole, the void was silent, there was no apparent rage or anger from the place. It seemed as if it was ready to allow its long-time prisoner to leave. He couldn’t see anything out of the portal, and he knew that his destination was assured, he’d merely drop her off at Toriel’s, or even Grillby's doorstep. Lingering there just in case.

 

* * *

 

 

When he stepped out, and it was  _ summer _ . 

 

They were still in the forest, he recognized the circle of trees that they had woken up in, but the sun was beaming down on both of them, warm and bright. The child stirred in response to the heat, her still cold stiff body curling slightly into his ribcage. Mount Ebbot was looming in the distance, the forest that climbed up its sides were completely snow-free.  And there was a heavy sense of magic permeating in the air, pulsing from the mountain.

 

The barrier was back up, he always remembered it. It was something that you could never forget. the incredible sense of just how much magic the seven mages had poured into creating the barrier. It was intense and almost awe-inspiring, a magic barrier built so reinforced and containing a massive underground population.

 

In a scientific viewpoint, the barrier was a fantastic work of art and magic. But from a monster’s viewpoint, it was a bright, taunting, curse. They were so close to being free, but so far at the same time. A true prison.

 

Oh, how Gaster hated it.

 

The world had just reset, and Gaster didn’t know why. There was no warning, no explanation, had the mage child gotten bored? Or was there something else that had happened within the time they were in the void, they were only there for a couple minutes- oh.

 

They had been in the void for a short time,  _ anything _ could’ve happened. Days can pass within minutes if the void wills it too.

 

He cut another portal, stepping through without any hesitation, there was a brief falling sensation, and Gaster jerked in response. The void _ pushed _ them along at a fast pace before it dumped the duo off in a cave. There was sunlight filtering through an opening in the cave’s ceiling, above a massive gaping hole. The cave was made up the mountain’s walls an interesting shade of purple and white quartz and was lined with green roots, strong and healthy, surviving from the sunlight and the rain that come through the ceiling. The ones nearing the edge of the hole were older, slightly brown from frost damage.

 

He glanced down at the hole and Gaster felt himself tremble, bones clacking together as he recomposed himself. The dark abyss below reminding him of when he fell down all those years ago, falling into the unknown spiraling into the nothingness. He placed the child down on the floor of the cave gently, and peered over the edge, eye-lights small pinpricks. He couldn't see the bottom of the cavern, but as he tilted his head to the side, he thought that he saw a slight green-yellow at the bottom.

 

He knew of this place, the entrance to the underground, where the barrier was the weakest. During his stay in the void, He would watch over and over and over again, as Frisk would approach the edge and falling in. Sometimes with bruises on their small face, red hand marks that still hadn't faded, bandages wrapped around their arms, sometimes in a sling, all signs of abuse. Other times, they had fallen tripping over a root, or looking over the edge, leaning over the side too far, and falling down that way. And sometimes they jumped down with a look of loss, resentment, or regret.

 

He may have disliked the kid, but they never seemed to be in control.

 

Their eyes  _ always _ had a slight hint of fogginess, sometimes their movements were too odd and too jerky, staggered as if each step were being puppeted by invisible strings. This was more commonly seen in the “Genocide” timelines, they walked semi-normally at first, but the more they killed monsters, the more jerky and inhuman their walking became, until they were stumbling around with a maddening expression on their face. In the “Pacifist” timeline they would walk around with no problem, carefree almost, the fogginess in their eyes was lifted slightly. It was unsettling. In the past few resets, the kid’s eyes were for once clear, slowly becoming unclaimed by the controlling fog.

 

Perhaps it was that reason why the resets had been becoming less often.

 

He heard a gasp, small, and oh so tiny, and he whirled around. Purple magic flaring in his eyes, ready to initiate a confrontation to protect the still unconscious child. Instead, Frisk stood a few feet in front of him, soft but wide eyes peering up at him from behind short choppy bangs, their clothing was dirtied, and there were more bruises on their small face. It seemed as if their family in this reset wasn't kind. Frisk had seen him once or twice, their determination burning his face and name into their mind. They looked at the other child, who was lying down, her head nestled into some of the vines. She was still breathing, seemingly easier now, the warmth of the sun increasing her temperature. Frisk glanced at the other and back at him, a question in their eyes.

 

He didn't know what to do. And Frisk didn’t know what to do either. They both stared at each other, neither wavering until the kid moved around him and scampered over to their fellow human. And he allowed it, his magic reverting back into his eye lights. Their small hands touched the other’s larger ones, before jolting in surprise and looking over at his with wide eyes. They still must have felt freezing to Frisk, and guilt filled their expression.

 

For what reason, Gaster didn’t know.

 

_ “Are you willing to speak in this timeline Mage-Child?” _ Gaster asked Frisk softly. And the kid frowned in response and shook their head no, with an apologetic look on their face.

 

They timidly pulled the collar down on their sweater with one of their hands, revealing a scar spanning across their neck. The cut was started near the left jugular, going across the throat and stopping next to the right jugular. Not deep enough to kill near the most important veins, but was deep enough to the center of the throat to tear and to maim. The scar was still pink and slightly raw, and he could see the faint stitch marks. Which wasn't there in the last timeline. Gaster froze, his eyes widening and his eye-lights flickering in alarm, and Frisk sniffled silently for a second as if recalling what had happened to them before their determination flickered in those eyes of theirs.

 

He realized why Frisk could no longer talk.

 

_ (Humans were always so violent. So morally wrong and cowardly.) _

 

In this timeline, Frisk’s voice had been forcibly muted.

 

_ “Sign language again, but… don’t worry about it mage-child. I’ve got to  _ **_hand_ ** _ it to you, it takes a lot of courage for you to keep coming back.” _ At the sound of the pun, Frisk broke into a wide grin, the clarity in their eyes was a welcome sight. Although they faltered, before the reassuring smile that Gaster had sent them eased their worries.  _ “If it makes it any better. I’m sorry for what you have gone through in this one. I will try my best to help you out.” _

 

Frisk gestured to the other, their hands moving quickly in a blur. _ “ Who are they? Why are they so cold?” _

 

Gaster was about to tell Frisk their name when he realized that he didn't actually know, the memory never clarified the child’s name, and he didn't feel like talking about the whole topic of the soul merging to someone as young as Frisk. His voice was hurting, and so, he switched to sign language instead. _ “ I do not know, they never got the chance to tell me. I found them in the forest, curled up and in pain. I tried to get her to Toriel’s home, or Grillby’s bar on the surface, but the timeline-” _

 

_ “Reset?” _ Frisk looked ashamed again, glancing down at the still unconscious form of the other, scuffing their feet against the stone of the cavern. _ “You can touch them? How? You phase through everything!” _

 

_ “I…. That topic isn’t suitable for a child of your age.”  _ Gaster felt the apprehension creeping up his spine.

 

_ “Is it a soul bond?” _ Gaster sputtered at that, and Frisk looked slightly smug, but there was still guilt in their eyes. 

 

_ “You know that I’m quite old. I’ve been on repeat for a long while Doctor G. I might not remember everything.” _ They glanced down at their feet, the hands clenching into tiny fists.  _ “But I do know about soulbonds. Toriel talked about them once, after she spoke to Asgore one day.” _

  
  


_ “Yes…” _ Gaster sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose ridge, shoulders slumping in resignation.  _ “We do share a bond. We didn’t have a choice.  _ **_I_ ** _ didn’t have a choice. It just _ **_happened_ ** _ . The void willed it, we were powerless.” _

 

Frisk let out a breath of air, that could be a placement for a nervous hum. And Gaster found himself once again, glancing down at the human again. Her HP was at 634 now.  Now that they were near the barrier he saw the oddest thing. A floating box that was hovering over her head, with pixelated words displayed in a faint greenish font. And it seemed as if Frisk had noticed too.

 

_ “ What is that?”  _ Gaster signed, confusion and worry building up in his ribcage. _ “I’ve never seen something like that unless we’re in a confrontation. Even then, only your HP can be seen by yourself unless someone uses the [CHECK] feature...” _

 

Frisk shrugged and curiously reached out to touch the floating box, only for their hand to phase on through. They glanced back at Gaster with a shrug. _ “ It looks like something off a human video game, a game mechanic I think? Something from an RPG, a character usually has a health bar and some minor stuff about them.” _

 

_ “A game mechanic?” _ Gaster muttered.  _ “Why would there be a game mechanic for this world? This is our reality but-” _

 

Unless this world  _ was _ part of a game.

 

The thought in itself was terrifying, the idea that something could interact with their world and control certain things, it seemed preposterous. But looking back on the past resets, it made some sense. Frisk being  **_controlled_ ** , Frisk doing various odd things, experimenting around with the killings- As if they were being played with,  _ exactly _ like a game. Manipulated to see every outcome, over and over. This was no doubt also occurring in other timelines.

 

His eyes widened at that, purple magic flaring up in surprise. This meant that the child who had fallen into the void was from an alternate place . Maybe from where the sources of the Resets were?

 

Interesting, very interesting.

 

_ “You realized something, Doctor?” _ Frisk asked, tilting their head to the side to look over at him, before going back to trying, and failing to poke at the box. _ “I can see your magic flickering from here.”   _

 

_ “ This is not her timeline, nor is it her world.” _ He spoke and Frisk jolted at that.  _ “I found her in the void, I thought she had gotten trapped somehow, another person who fell into the core. But now, it makes sense, she was going between worlds, and-” _

 

_ “Ended up here?” _ Frisk interjected, and Gaster smiled at that. Frisk was always a smart child.

 

_ “Correct. I’m assuming that the information box above her head is a mechanic from her world. Something that is new here.” _ Gaster muttered, his eye-lights narrowing as he considered his thoughts.  _ “It may be possible to access it through the  _ **_[ACT]_ ** _ or _ **_[CHECK]_ ** _ menu.” _

 

Frisk concentrated, letting out a whoosh of air from their mouth, and focused on the box. Gaster watched as their eyes burned a bloody red, and Gaster tensed up. For a moment they looked like- no , it was best not to think about them. The box responded, the white outline around the pixelated box turning red. The box then expanded, the text becoming smaller to accommodate a surprisingly intricate information bio to the right, branching out from the HP box. The red from their eyes faded, but the info box remained open.

 

_ “This is new. I’ve never seen an information box this advanced, even in the other timelines, they’ve always been the same thing. This… this is completely different.  Not to mention there are other abbreviations. Such as _ **_[XP]_ ** _ , _ **_[SKL]_ ** _ ,  _ **_[DEX]_ ** _ ,  _ **_[CHA]._ ** _ Do you know what these mean child?” _ Gaster said, turning to look down at Frisk, and they nodded.

 

_ “Those are base stats,  _ **_[XP]_ ** _ means Experience points, _ **_[DEX]_ ** _ is Dexterity,  _ **_[CHA]_ ** _ is Charisma, there are other meanings for the rest. The more experience points one gets, the higher their _ **_[LVL]_ ** _ or  _ **_[Level]_ ** _ gets.” _  Frisk explained. _ “It’s like your combat system, but different, for there are many others...” _

  
  


_ “Except the effects from these are not associated with negative side effects I’m assuming?”  _ Gaster asked.  _ “The abbreviations for us have always been negative. It would make sense for a human who’s grown up with human video games mixing the two up. Thinking the _ **_[LV]_ ** _ was _ **_[LVL]_ ** _ and not Level Of ViolencE. Or  _ **_[EXP]_ ** _ being Execution Points and not Experience Points.” _

  
  


“Do you think anyone else can see it? People could get the wrong idea, her [LV] is one, but her [LVL] is about 22” Frisk asked, looking back up at the scientist. The box then collapsed, the information flickering into the typical default style of their world. They sent it one last glance before walking over to Gaster.

 

_ “I am not sure. Who knows. You and I have been the only ones who have been in contact with here.”  _ Gaster shrugged, looking back at the other who was still sleeping, however, he noticed that her eyes were moving behind her eyelids, and she was breathing deeper. Her body relaxed. REM Sleep then.  _ “Only time will tell.” _

 

_ “I’m not sure If I want to fall down this time.”  _ Frisk looked down at the ground sadly.  _ “I think I’ve ruined everything too many times. I can’t prevent anything either. Sans is probably pretty mad at me. I reset again. And I promised him that I wouldn’t do it again.” _

 

_ “Was it by choice? Did you want to take away their happiness?” _ Gaster asked, narrowing his eyes at Frisk who shook their head in immediate denial. _ “Or did you wish to fix something, something horrible must have happened in that case.” _

 

_ “ _ **_He_ ** _ died- I panicked, I didn’t think. I just pulled up the reset button and-” _ Frisk lowered their head.  _ “I reset the timeline. I could've just loaded, but I had saved after _ **_his_ ** _ death. It was too late.  _ **_I_ ** _ was too late. Sans is going to hate me, and I'm scared Doctor!” _

 

_ “Then it’s not your fault.” _ Gaster sighed and sat down next to Frisk and the other, and Frisk timidly scooted closer, sighing into their arms.  _ “Sans may be boneheaded , a real _ **_numb skull_ ** _ sometimes-” _

 

Frisk laughed at that, causing a thin smile to cross Gaster’s face.

 

_ “-but he is understanding, he may be rough at first, but I bet if you explain everything that went down, he will forgive you.”  _ Gaster finished, and Frisk seemed happier.  _ “Stay determined kiddo, you’ll get through this. A lot of people believe in you.” _

 

_ “Thanks, Doctor G. That helped,” _ Frisk responded with a grateful smile on their face, their eyes who despite their young visage, appeared so old for a split second. Before their determination burned once more, the red fires seeping into their very core. There was a flash of yellow and a save point glittered to life.

 

They sat there in silence, that was for once surprisingly comfortable. The sound of birds was a pleasant background noise, their sweet little songs filling the calm atmosphere with a light sense of peace. Some of the vines were flowering, bees and butterflies buzzing and flitting around their multi-colored blossoms. The other moved, letting out an airy sigh and rolled onto her side. This motion causing the monster and red souled duo to jolt. It seemed as if the cold had finally abated, and the human’s eyes fluttered open a crack with a dull noise of complaint. Her arm moving up to cover her sensitive eyes from the invading light of the sun that was pouring down from the cavern’s ceiling.

 

“Oh god, what did I drink last night- I don't even like alcohol for Pete's sake.” She grumbled, sitting up with a low hiss, her spine cracking as she stretched. Causing Gaster to grimace in discomfort at the noise.

 

“I must’ve been absolutely high or something, I pledged to be drug-free, so I sure as heck hope that I didn’t do drugs.”

 

Frisk’s shoulders shook in silent laughter at their fellow human’s grumbles.

 

“That was the oddest dream-” She opened her eyes, seeing that the abyss was only a few feet away she suddenly back peddled another foot. “Orrrrr maybe not a dream. Cause this isn’t my dorm room.”

 

Frisk shifted in their spot, the gravel on the floor scraping together.

 

She turned around, lightning quick, her orange, almost amber colored eyes meeting their gaze. She opened and closed her mouth several times, looking like a goldfish, as she took in the two in front of her. She heaved a sigh, before shutting her mouth completely and frowning, running a hand through her hair in resignation. “Alright. This is a reality.”

 

_ “So quick to admit it, my dear? Are you sure that you are not dreaming?” _ Gaster teased with a grin.  _ “It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.” _

 

“Nope, I’m pretty sure that you’re a skeleton.” She responded with a small smile, although it was strained. “ **Tibia** honest with you, I’ve got no clue what's going on here. My mind is working  **down to the bone** to figure out all of this stuff”

 

* * *

 

 

Waking up was an experience, the headache was back, but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as what was originally going on. It only took a good fifteen seconds for the pain to fully fade away. I muttered a few scattered phrases, not really knowing what was going on. There was a bright light in my face and when I finally managed to pry my eyes open, I found myself staring up at the blue sky, and when I looked slightly downward I noticed the hole-

 

_ -I was falling, falling, falling, the core screaming around me. The bright white mist- no energy- that was swirling around me- burned. I was on fire, burning and burning. I couldn’t scream, maybe I was screaming, screaming loudly. If I was, I couldn’t hear my shouts and cries over the loud roaring. Looking up for a split second before the white of the magic consumed me. I saw wide horrified eyes staring back at me, the sockets dark and the eye-lights tiny in fear. _

 

_ Sans! Sans! Please turn away-! _

 

_ I reached one of my hands out begging him not to seem my death- and noticed the circular cuts in the middle of the bones of my hand- _

 

I scrambled backward, the memory blind sighting me. Okay. This is not my dorm room. My vision seemed weird, there were new things in my vision. Like a HUD, it had my information on it.

 

**Kira - LVL: 21 - Shared Soul.**

 

**HP:** 645/900. Regens +2 HP every 30 secs.

 

**XP:** +100 XP to next LVL. **Next Quest:** N/A.

 

Well, that was new. And odd. And somewhat frustrating. Was it my destiny to be stuck in weird situations? Or was this some form of sick humor? Or is some person laughing while writing out the most bizarre life story that has probably existed ever? Probably both.

 

There was more information in the box, but I decided to ignore it. For now, I would explore it later, find out all of that extra information. I felt like it would be useful in the future. I blinked and heard something move behind me, I whipped around, my eyes narrowed before they widened. Gaster was sitting down on the floor, his black coat surrounding him, looking like a blanket. Despite the almost goofy look, he still looked oddly regal. Next to him, was a child. They had a short brown hair cut in a bob style, with slightly tanned skin, half closed eyes, wearing a blue and pink sweater. I could see red- the red of determination- burning beneath their chest.

 

Frisk.

 

I realized that I was gaping, and I ran my hand through my hair in embarrassment.

 

Wonderful, already making a fool of myself. “Alright. This is a reality.”

 

_ “So quick to admit it, my dear? Are you sure that you are not dreaming?” _ Gaster teased with a grin, mirth in his eyes.  _ “It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.” _

 

“Nope, I’m pretty sure that you’re a skeleton,” I responded with a small smile, it was a bit strained, though. Waking up again and finding out that that dream was real was giving me a real headache. “ **Tibia** honest with you, I’ve got no clue what's going on here. My mind is working  **down to the bone** to figure out all of this stuff.”

 

Gaster let out an odd snorting-laugh noise, almost reminding me of an accordion with its mechanicalness. It made me break out into a goofy grin, a nearly laugh sputtering out of my mouth. I didn’t expect that! Not at all. Frisk’s shoulders shook with laughter at the combined powers of my puns, and Gaster’s weird laugh-snort. But no sound came out of their mouth. It didn’t bother me, not in the slightest. I had several friends who laughed silently and coming from Frisk, It was pretty adorable. I decided that standing by the deep unknown wasn’t a good idea, and I moved over to stand by Frisk and Gaster, before deciding against it and sitting down beside the both of them.

 

“I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Kira, from the U.S. I’m a 21-year-old artist and professional procrastinator.” I reached a hand out to Frisk. They sent me a tiny smile and shook my hand in their own. There was a feeling of electricity, a tingling sensation that ran up my arm and something clicked in my head. I blinked, before continuing on. “What’s your name?”

 

_ “My name is Frisk.” _ They signed at me, a sad and guilty look on their face.  _ “But I think you know that already.” _

 

“I can hear you, in my head.” They jolted at that. I could hear them in my head, I could hear their small voice, filled with sorrow and shame. And I remembered the text on my screen before I passed out. **(Somebody cried out for help, but will you help them?)** “You called out for help right? I saw it on my screen, I wanted to help you out-”

 

_ “And my determination dragged you in. I’m sorry.” _ Frisk sighed, tilting their head down, letting out a soft noise.  _ “I didn't mean to.” _

 

“Don’t worry about it, there’s no need to be so hard on yourself.” I shrugged it off with a grin, patting them on the shoulder. “I’m in college, I could always use the escape.”

 

_ “I took you from your home. You could die here.” _ Frisk mumbled sadly. They had stopped signing and used the new mental communication ability to the best of their ability.    _ “You should be mad at me.” _

 

“I can’t get mad at kids. It’s always been ingrained in me to treat your little ones with kindness.” I pulled them into a clumsy hug, and they tentatively hugged me back, their small arms wrapping around my middle. “Besides, It was my decision to agree to come along. I chose to help, and I don’t think that I’m going to regret it. ”

 

_ “Still, I’m sorry.” _ They sighed into my chest, their hands gripping onto my t-shirt. Before looking up at me with watery eyes.  _ “I can send you back, you can go home-” _

 

“It’s alright. Besides.... I- uh- don’t think I can go back.” I responded, patting them on the head, just like what I’d do to my younger brother whenever he needed comfort. I could feel it in my bones, I couldn’t go home until all of this was over. “I don’t think that the laws here will let me leave.”

 

_ “The soulbond?” _ Frisk turning their head to glance over at Gaster who shied away with a frown. And I paused for a moment, recalling the “shared soul” status on the HUD, and I glanced back over at it to make sure, yup. Still got it.

 

“Perhaps?” I shrugged, this was all so new. Might as well get this all over with. “ I have a seemingly permanent status on my HUD. I’m a ‘Shared-Soul’ apparently.”

 

_ “A HUD?” _ Gaster asked, eye-lights flickering in curiosity.

 

“A Heads Up Display, it contains a health bar and other information. An Inventory is also known as a GUI, or Graphic User Interface. These are seen in video games or role play games.” I explained to the seemingly baffled scientist. They didn’t really have video games, at least none of our current ones in the underground, and I mentally smacked myself.

 

_ “I am quite aware of what video games are. I’ve played a few myself before falling into the core.” _ He said dryly, eyes quirking in amusement. _ “They were quite entertaining.” _

 

“I would ask which video game. But I think it’s best that we continue moving along with all of this.” I turned around and approached the edge of the abyss. Sitting down a good two feet away from it. I would've peered over it , but the memory- Gaster's memory of falling into the core was still ingrained in my head and left me feeling anxious.

 

“So, this is the entrance to the underground. The place where the barrier is at it’s weakest?” I asked the other two, and they nodded in confirmation. “How far down is it to the bottom?”

 

_ “I’m not sure. Good ways down I think. Sometimes I go down unscathed, other times I break a bone or two” _ Frisk said with a shrug, an apologetic look on their face.  _ “It depends on the reset. The people are always the same, so is the layout of the entire underground, only the drop is different for each time.” _

 

“That’s useful to know. I guess. I think vague is the only answer we're gonna get so far.” I said. I grabbed a rock, that was more of a small boulder and rolled it over the edge with a grunt. It toppled over the edge, and I waited. Counting the seconds for the sound of the rock hitting the ground.

 

_ One... Two… Three… Four… _

 

The sound of a loud crunching noise, the stone hitting the bottom of the abyss with a crumbling sound that reverberated down below.

 

“Well, that just hit **rock bottom.** ” I declared my voice shaking, the feeling of anxiety tripling as I scrambled back. My heart pounding in my chest, my arms shaking and trembling. Frisk moved forwards and gently placed their hands upon my shoulders.

 

“It took four seconds-”

 

My voice seemed muffled, and my vision was going black at the edges. I gasped for air, realizing that I had dragged myself into a panic attack. I could feel something in my chest radiating calm, and it eased the raw panic that was running rampant in my mind and body.  I paused for a second, before breathing in through my nose, before breathing out of my mouth and repeating it over and over until my body calmed down.  

 

“-Four seconds for that boulder to meet the bottom. That’s a long time to fall.” I looked back at Gaster who looked stricken, but determined, his soul burning a bright white just beneath his sternum. Oh, so that’s where the feeling of calmness was coming from.

 

_ “My dear, are you alright now?” _ Gaster’s voice was worried and slightly fearful, but knowing that he was trying his best to keep both of our souls safe made a warmth pulse in my chest. That same warmth seemed to ease his bones as well.

 

“Thank you for that Gaster, you too Frisk..” I said with a weak grin, and I breathed out heavily. “I panicked. Never did like heights. Having anxiety doesn't help.”

 

_ “It is quite alright! Everyone has their fears, my child.” _ Gaster said with an easy smile, his eye lights flickering. _ “I have no doubt that the memory you witnessed didn't help you in the slightest. My apologies.” _

 

_ “Yeah, I was pretty scared of the drop too, except I fell in right away on my first time going down here,”   _ Frisk admitted, a small smile of their own.

 

“So, what do we do now?” I asked, and they both glanced at each other.

 

We waited in silence, it wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was slightly awkward. As I listened to the sound of silence, I noticed something.

 

It had gone too silent.

 

Something was wrong.  _ Wrong. Wrong. Wrong! _ There was always a background noise when you were in the wilderness. Whether it be the wind whistling through the cavern and the trees, or the birds chirping as they flew above the hole in the ceiling singing their songs, there was at least some sort of noise. It was all silent. Even the butterflies and the bees, that had been flitting around us and the flowers, had all  **buzzed** off entirely.

 

It was a completely dead quiet, as If they had never existed in the first place. And my instincts screamed:  _ Danger, Danger, Danger!  _ With each passing second.

 

“I hate to cause more paranoia over here, but where are the birds and the wind? It’s gone completely quiet.” I spoke up, worry building in my chest. “It feels like something is wrong.”

 

_ “You feel it too?” _   Frisk whispered.  

 

It happened so suddenly.

 

The earth  _ shook _ a loud drawn-out rumble that echoed out of the abyss with a roar. The entire cavern shuddered, the vines on the walls, their leaves shaking as the earthquake rattled the very mountain we stood on. Some of the rock from the ceilings broke off with sickening cracks, reminiscent of the sound of breaking bones.  Some of the stalactites that were on the ceiling fell into the gaping hole below, plummeting into the darkness and hitting the ground with an equally loud crunch. Another fell near us, shattering into rubble. I let out a cry of surprise, as one nearly speared me through the leg, landing mere inches from striking it through. Frisk rolled out of the way as another speared the earth. Gaster, working on pure instinct flickered out of the way of another spike of rock landed near him.

 

The rumbling still hadn’t stopped, I had no idea how long it was going on for, thirty seconds now?

 

There was a sickening cracking- crumbling noise and the floor of the cave had suddenly fractured, large cracks in the ground giving way and falling off.

 

At this point, We had all regrouped back together, and we let out a series of shouts in surprise, shock, and horror, as the ground was suddenly gone.

 

The earthquake coupled with the broken part of the cavern hollowed out beneath us. Anything that was as strong and as powerful as an earthquake, was enough to cause it to fall. The edge dropping down with all of us on it into the abyss.

 

My world underwent blurred with vertigo, my stomach, my heart, my  _ soul  _ plummeting, and I stared up at the sky. The sky’s blue light mocking and cruel, to be so close to freedom yet so far. One of my arms reached out, my hand reaching up and grasping at nothingness.

  
  


I saw a flash, the memory of the core in my head flickering to life and the world. Both were happening at once, the current moment in time, and the past, underground and aboveground blended together, the holes cutting into my palms, the blackness turning into the burning mist of magic. I saw Sans Chara someone glitching out near the edge of the side.

 

_ Two… One… Zero… _

 

Impact.

 

I didn't feel the pain as my back  _ shattered _ , as it met the ground. The bones giving way, splintering and breaking into shards. I was in shock, the impact of the ground disorienting as I stared blankly up at the bright blue light shining down from the hole in the cavern. The pain simply did not register in my head. Breathing was hard, my ribs weren’t contracting nor were they expanding. The muscles felt weird, bunched up. I knew that my back was now too damaged by the fall, the backing of the ribs that were connected to the spine, had been splintered into pieces. My vision was going black at the edges, before completely overtaking me.

 

I tried to breathe-

 

-and my soul floated above my chest.

 

I couldn’t see the colors-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that all of you enjoyed this chapter! 
> 
> If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to leave a comment down below!
> 
> Feel free to give some Kudos as well, they help feed my dying motivation!


	4. Ruins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: An earthquake sends the two humans, and the scientist, down below. 
> 
> It ended in death. 
> 
> The fall too fast, the distance too great. 
> 
> But their journey doesn't end here! With a new host of quests to complete and monsters to meet, this reset may prove to be all the more different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [None of these chapters are Beta Read, if you find any errors, whether it be spelling, grammatical or punctuation, please let me know and I will fix them! Thank you!]
> 
> This story has a Question and Answer blog on Tumblr, at (x-temporal-displacement.tumblr.com). I will be posting status updates on what I've written. And some of the characters in the story can respond to what you ask. 
> 
> This chapter was at a spacing of 1.5. Coming out at 25 pages and contains 7,902 words!

The cavern the group had fallen into was consumed by shadows. The sun had since gone down the horizon, bathing Mount Ebbot in dark shades and hues. The sky going from it’s bright azure to a midnight blue as the time progressed along, steadily darkening as the hours ticked on by. The stars above had flickered into being one by one, illuminating the dark sky above with glitter like sparks of light. The moon had risen by this time, shining through the hole in the cavern's ceiling, and down below into the underground.

 

Water dripped from the ceiling, hitting the gathering puddles and pools on the ground with a series of quiet and gentle plinking noises. Adding more water to the already wet ground. Bats of varying sizes chittered a squeaked from where they rested slightly above the barrier, flitting around up the cave for a few seconds, before escaping out through the hole in the cavern and into the night sky.  

 

As the cave went quiet. Lights, glimmering and shining appeared, pushing the shadows back into the corners of the cavern. They were a brilliant mass of colors, turning the pitch black into a kaleidoscope of lights and shades. Illuminating the darkened walls, and revealing the damage the earthquake had left behind. Chunks of rock had been shattered upon meeting the ground, pulverized into a fine powdery dust. Some of the stalactites were still whole, made out a white quartz that glowed in the light, had been speared into the earth, and cracked in places, the rubble that they left in their wake was strewn about the cave floor.

 

Of the two lights. One burned a bright, vivid, burning red, power radiating and dancing upon its glasslike surface. Sending crackles of red magic into the air.  The other soul was a bright, vibrant mix of colors. It radiated less energy than the red soul, it crystalline casing slightly scratched and dirty, as if it had been damaged in the past, the cracks healing. Greenish blue magic wisped into the air like smoke, swirling into the red that the other gave off.

 

The combined swirls of magic were filing the nearly empty and dead room, with the light, energy, and warmth that they radiated. The further away the magic got from the souls. It swirled and coalesced like stardust, swirling into a fine mist before fading. They lit up the dark, showing the bright candy apple red of blood, seeping from the two crumpled bodies on the floor. The souls hovering above their broken and battered hosts. Occasionally, they would let out gentle pulses of energy with each soul beat. The golden flowers beneath them, their sweet scent still heavy and warm in the air, were torn and crumpled, smashed into a pulp by the fall. The ones around the two humans, trembled for a moment, the magic from the souls fixing most of the flowers. The tears in the petals and stems, knitting themselves back into completeness, returning them to their former beauty.

 

Gaster was standing there, watching it all. His chest heaved, shoulder shaking as he sank to the floor. His skeletal head bowed, and his soul glowing faintly above his chest. His hands were covering it, not quite touching its surface, but cupping it close.  The whitish lavender light spilling through the gaps in his bones and the holes in his hands, the white light adding to the other colors and his eyes shut. Purple magic gathered behind his eyes, and he could feel it threatening to cascade down his face. He hadn’t cried in a long time. The fragment of Kira’s soul that rested in his own, was pulsing alongside his own soul beats, and despite the energy it contained. He felt nothing coming from it, no emotion, no pain, no sensation, just the blank, powerful feeling of energy.

 

The bond had silenced itself.

 

To protect him from feeling the pain and agony that the other had been in seconds after the fall, and to mute the shock of the death.

 

Gaster felt lost.

 

It was like watching his sons, his friends, and everyone else forgetting about him after he fell into the Core. The feeling of indescribable loneliness filling his chest like the darkness of the void, it was choking to feel so empty again. Purple translucent, energy dripped from behind his closed eyes, dripping down the crack below his left eye, and down the bones of his face.

 

 _“Please don’t give up!”_ He whispered, begging. His soul fluttering in pain, the light dimming, and flickering. _"Kira, Frisk. You are our future.“_

 

The souls responded to his words. Except in the opposite manner, to Gaster’s abject horror.

 

Both souls, the colored mix and the solid red of the other cracked down the center. A spider webbed series of warning cracks that splintered outwards, crawling around the glasslike surface of both souls. Before both of them ending up breaking into two pieces, the cracks shattering into shards. The multicolored soul flickered and blinked. Threatening to die out as it’s lights dimmed and darkened. The shard in his soul was also starting to die out, and Gaster found his form becoming static. Frisk’s soul was burning like the dying embers of a fire, flickering and glowing faintly.

 

**[But they refused.]**

 

The center of both souls suddenly brightened. That bloodied red that Gaster had seen during his time in the void, ignited in the core of Kira’s soul, overtaking the other colors until it matched the same bright red that Frisk’s soul exhibited. Even the piece of Kira's soul in his own had gone bloody red, and the fuzziness in his form re-strengthened into what it was before, power flowing into his body and Gaster smiled, shoulders sagging in relief.  Both souls were now indistinguishable due to their color, the only sign that was different was the cracks that were spread throughout both souls. Frisk’s soul was more whole, the cracks less splintered and less shattered. While Kira’s soul was in more pieces, almost as if someone had taken a hammer and tried to break it over and over and over again, but with no success.

 

_“Humans truly are determined creatures. To go through so much pain and still being able to piece the pieces back together. Astonishing!”_

 

The souls flickered once, twice, then ignited! Their energy pulsing and roaring outwards in a torrent of red energy and Gaster shut his eyes, the lights too bright to look at. Moments later, it all went back to silence. Gaster opened his eyes and blinked in astonishment as the souls were back in one piece, dropping down and into the chest of their hosts.

 

Kira shot up with a wheezing gasp, eyes wide as she trembled, her hand resting above her heart and soul. The damage, the broken spine and the fractured ribs had healed, the bones solid and whole as if they had never been broken. It eased Gaster’s nerves, the idea that humans had bones that were somewhat similar in breakability, and with their similar skeletal structure had always been unnerving. Her HP which had been at 0 upon her death, was back to its full capacity, a whopping 900 HP.

 

She looked around, staring at Gaster for a moment. An odd expression crossed her face, before flopping back onto the flowers once more with a sigh, tears rolling down her face and into her hair as she burst into slightly hysterical, but overjoyed laughter.

 

“Hahaha! Oh, thank whatever deity that is out there, I liiiive!” She shouted out, a wide grin on her face, her eyes bright with renewed energy. “I’m popping out of the snow like daisies! I’ve…”

 

Her voice sobered and went quieter. “I’ve never felt this good in a long time.”

 

Frisk was also wide awake, was running their hands through their hair. Carefully checking the back of their head, where their skull had come in contact with the floor, relieved to have all the pieces back into place. They pulled down the collar of their sweater, timidly feeling the skin of their throat, shoulders sagging in relief when they felt unblemished skin beneath their fingers. They breathed in, before letting out a humming noise. To their surprise, a soft noise accompanied the otherwise silent hum.  They tried it again, humming once more and grinning as another noise broke out of their throat. Which turned into a delighted yet pained chirp.

 

They had a voice again.

 

Relief poured out of their heart and soul, a watery smile crossing their face, and tears dripped down their chubby cheeks. They sniffled, a shaking sob tearing from their throat as they rubbed at their face with the sleeves of their sweater. Frisk stood up, before looking over at Kira, before dashing over and burrowing themselves into her side. Kira blinked for a moment, before laughing warmly, the sound filling the dead silence of the cave with a joyous echo. Turning to her side and reaching up over with one of their hands to ruffle Frisk’s choppy brown hair. Before pulling them into a hug, both of their relieved laughter mixing together.

 

Kira stood up, gently pulling Frisk up with her. She paused to brush off her pajama pants, dusting off a fine powder of dust and pollen. Then turning to Frisk. and dusting off the sticky yellow pollen that the buttercups had left behind on their sweater. Frisk smiled and hugged Kira, their head meeting just below her chest, letting out a delighted hum. To which Kira easily re-smoothed the hair that she had tousled upon their head.

 

Gaster watched the whole scene with a smile on his face, pausing to wipe away the liquid magic that had dripped down his face when he cried. They both had decided to continue instead of resetting, it filled him with relief and a feeling of proudness.

 

Frisk before dying had quickly created a save point with the last of their energy. Gaster had only noticed it after they had revived themselves, it glittered and shined from where it hovered over the bed of flowers. It looked different, though. Everything about it was different, from its shape, instead of having four points, there were now seven. Its color had changed as well, instead of its bright yellow, it was more colorful. The edges were pale yellow, but the closer to the center it became, the colors went from yellow to orange, to red.

 

A new mechanic perhaps?

 

Gaster was broken out of his musings when he felt himself getting pulled. He blinked as he realized that the duo had quite literally dragged him into a group hug. He let out a slightly delighted and amused laugh, as both humans pulled him closer, grins on their face. It was so nice to feel something again, even if it was a simple touch. It all spoke volumes. The hug was warm and oh so happy, filling his chest with a thrumming warmth that erupted from his soul. Eventually, the hug was broken, Kira pulling back and crossing her arms over her chest. She looked up at the ceiling, the light from the moon faintly going down around them all in a circle of silver light.

 

“Alright,” Kira announced to no one in particular, she turned to look back over at her fellow companions. “So now we’re Underground. All the way at the beginning.”

 

 _“Our journey begins.”_ Frisk sent over the mental link with a bright grin. Even though they had their voice back, talking was still an effort, and was slightly painful to do. _“Another day, another adventure.”_

 

“We should totally have a team name,” Kira said with a wide grin, similar to that of a Cheshire cat, her brown eyes alight. “Like, we’re all in this together, so a team name is a must!”

 

A box suddenly flickered into existence, as Kira’s left eye ignited with a green energy, _(occasionally blue and yellow would flicker in the flames)._ It hovered right in front of the trio. It’s edging glowed a myriad of colors, and for a moment it glitched before pixelated text typed itself onto the screen.

 

**[Create a Party? Y/N?]**

 

“That’s new,” Kira muttered, her eyes squinting slightly. She looked over at the other two and shrugged, before turning back to the box. “Uh- Yes, Create Party.”

 

**[Party Created! Type - Trio Matrix [3m] - Leader: Kira ]**

 

**[Party name: Unnamed Party.]**

 

**[Members]**

**Kira - LVL: 21 - Shared Soul**

**Rank:** Team Leader, 1st Runner, Attack.

 **HP:** 900/900. Regens +2 HP every 30 seconds.

 **XP:** +50 XP to next LVL. **Current Quest:** Strange Flower. +250 XP upon completion.

 **LF STATS:** Hidden.

**UG Stats:**

**LV:** 1\. **HP** : 900/900. **AT:** 14\. **DF:** 20 (+2 DF).

 **EXP:** 0, +10 needed for next LV. **Armor:** Skeleton Pajamas.

 **Weapon:** Inactive

 

**Frisk - LVL: 11 - Determined**

**Rank:** 2nd Runner, Attack.

 **HP:** 20/20. Goes back to previous [SAVE] point upon death.

 **XP:** +50 XP to next LVL. **Current Quest:** Strange Flower. +250 XP upon completion.  

 **LF STATS:** Hidden.

**UG Stats:**

**LV:** 1\. **HP** : 20/20. **AT:** 0\. **DF:** 2.

 **EXP:** 0, +10 needed for next LV. **Armor:** Bandage

 **Weapon:** None.

 

**[Redacted] - LVL: Unknown - Voided Shared Soul**

**Rank:** 3rd Runner, Defense.

 **HP:** 2,250/2,250. Cannot die, cannot be touched by other means.

 **XP:** +1950 XP to next LVL. **Current Quest:** Strange Flower. +250 XP upon completion.

 **LF STATS:** Hidden. **UG STATS:** Hidden.

 

“You guys are seeing this too right?” Kira asked, turning once more to look at her companions, who nodded, and did a double take noticing how boxes, smaller than the one she herself had open, had appeared in front of both of them. She couldn’t read the text, but she could tell that there were some buttons on it. Frisk’s eyes had gone a blood red, while Gaster’s eye sockets had gone a solid purple.

 

Eerie.

 

**[Confirm Party Request? Y/N]**

 

Frisk let out a hum, looking at their information with a pensive frown. Reaching up and lightly touching the box that had appeared in front of them. Instead of their fingers phasing through the box, they managed to touch the surface, feeling like cool polished glass. They tapped the yes option, pausing as their vision _changed_ . In the upper corner of their vision, they could see their STATS, health and a few other new things, such as a red colored bar in the upper corner labeled **[MGK]** and another box with a backpack-like symbol labeled **[INV]**.

 

They turned and looked over at Gaster, who was glancing back and forth from the stat box in front of him to the new HUD that was now prevalent in his field of vision. He moved one of his hands in a graceful manner, and the box collapsed on itself before fading into the nothingness.

 

 _“Interesting, I wonder what else has changed?”_ He muttered, straightening and looking over at his fellow team members. _“The save point, the new stat mechanic. Even the combat may have changed.”_

 

“This world already _is_ an RPG,” Kira muttered in protest before she turned around with a shout and shook her fist at the ceiling. “I’m calling a strike, I can’t work under these conditions!”

 

Her voice echoed around the cavern, the word 'strike’ repeating like an angry mantra before dying off. For a moment, Kira swore that she heard _someone_ laugh in the distance.

 

 _“Who are you shouting at?”_ Frisk wondered glancing at the ceiling, only to see nothing.

 

“Uh… No one in particular actually.” Kira responded with a shrug, followed by a sheepish grin. "I’m just venting some frustration.”

 

 _“That’s an odd way to do it,”_ Gaster muttered, before sighing sending them both a deadpanned stare. _“Then again, I used to yell at my devices if nothing seemed to go right. Imagine Asgore’s amusement to find his top scientist screaming at a calculator.”_

 

“I bet that it was a rather **calculated** move on your part,” Kira responded with a wide grin, her eyes dancing in amusement. Causing Frisk to bust out in a series of delighted giggles, and Gaster to crack another smile, running his hands over his face.

 

 _“Alright, I walked right into that one.”_ He chuckled, the sound caused Kira and Frisk to pause, before they both broke into even wider grins. Gaster’s eye-lights dancing with mirth. _“You got me there.”_

 

 _“We need a team name, right? How about Team Determination?”_ Frisk suggested with a grin, their eyes dancing with amusement.

 

 _“Or Team Science?”_ Gaster suggested with an amused smile.

 

“I think that’s more centered for you Doc, Kiddo,” Kira responded with a snort, rolling her eyes. She went quiet for a moment, thinking intently before she spoke again. “How about ‘New Day?’ That’s what we’re going for right? So that all of the monsters get to see the light of a new day”

 

 _“That works better.”_ Frisk considered before grinning. _“I like it.”_

 

“Anyway, we’ve got a quest? I think, to do. We’ve dawdled enough. And it's about time we got moving.” Kira said, and squared her shoulders looking barely dignified in the bone patterned pajamas that she wore. Her bare feet making soft pitter-patter noises with every step that she took, but she continued to walk through the cave, approaching the ivy covered entrance. “The barrier isn't going to break itself!”

 

The two humans stepped on through, pushing the purple stone doors inwards that led to the ruins. Kira’s gaze scanned over the Delta Rune, lingering briefly on the angelic wings that were carved into the image with slight hesitation, before making sure to push the door open all the way, and it let out a dull rumble within its wake.

 

The next room that they stepped into was much smaller than the one they left behind, but the damage from the earthquake appeared to be a constant throughout the Underground so far. Large pieces of whitish gold quartz littered the floor of the cabin, as well as broken chunks of purple granite and stone. Despite all of the damage, there was a patch of grass sitting in the center of the cavern, and on it rested a single yellow flower, that was bobbing cheerfully with a wide grin on its white head.

 

* * *

 

 

I paused at the sight of Flowey. Upon a first glance, he looked very harmless, innocent even. To any child or monster, even _older humans_ would have a hard time realizing just how dangerous that little flower is. With his almost saccharine color scheme, a mixed palette of bright yellow and greens, he looked like the epitome of friendly. I could faintly hear something playing in the background like a little tune, it was oddly familiar. I concentrated on the noise, thinking deeply about where I recognized it from, before realizing what it was. It was “Your Best Friend” and chills ran up my spine. It sounded much creepier than it was in the game, echoing off of the cave walls. I briefly wondered if Frisk or Gaster noticed too, and judging by their expressions, they to heard it as well.

 

“Howdy!” Flowey, seeing us approaching him, turned himself around, his face breaking into a wide, cheerful smile, but it doesn’t reach those little eyes of his. “I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower!”

 

Oh goodness, gracious. His voice was _unnerving_. It sounded just like child's cheerful voice- if a child had multiple voices and was speaking at once. There were easily about three high pitched voices speaking as one, to any child, his voice would have sounded positively friendly. However, as I focused, I heard as darker voice underlying the other higher pitched ones, this one was deep, rumbling, and menacing.

 

_Hahaha, nope!_

 

He continued to look at us, well, Frisk and I. Considering how he only looked at the two of us. Not even reacting to seeing Gaster, who I assumed was still nothing more than an invisible specter. Gaster _should_ have been rather obvious. As he stood directly behind us, his much taller form looming over like a defensive sentinel. I sent the skeleton scientist a quick glance, barely restraining a shiver when I saw the magic in his eyes. The purple magic that was flaring out of his eye-lights was turning a bluish-orange at the edges, a fierce look on his skeletal face. I was glad that he was one of our party members and not an enemy. I quickly turned my attention back to Flowey.

 

“You must be new in the Underground aren't you?” He chirped out, a smile, which to me was quite unsettling, crossed his face. “Golly! You must be so confused!”

 

“Yeah, pretty confused. Considering the fact that I am talking to a living flower.” I responded with a bright smile, hiding just how unnerved I was. Flowey laughed in response to my comment.

 

“Since you're new, someone ought to teach you how things work around here!” He said as he smiled, something malicious sparking in those eyes, so fast that I _almost_ missed it. “I guess that little, old, me will have to do!”

 

There was a loud crackle of magic, and Frisk and I watched as the magic cut a rectangle around us. The white energy, creating a bullet box around us, blocking us inside of its field. It snapped and crackled like electricity, and the world around us had suddenly gone pitch black. Reminding me of a place that was dark, darker, yet darker. All of the colors suddenly _changed_ and fell into monochromatic shades, everything turning black and white within an instant. I felt a tugging sensation in my chest and my soul quickly sparked into existence, hovering mere inches away from my chest.

 

It was one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen. The surface of my soul had a glass-like sheen to it, and beneath the glass, the interior was a swirling mix of colors. Mostly greens and blues, but I would occasionally see a flicker or burst of yellow and red. It reminded me of a polished piece of labradorite. I looked over at Frisk and paused at the sight of their soul. It had the same clear polished cover that mine had, but the color was a singular burning red, and it was also very pretty. Glancing back over at Gaster, My heart skipped a beat. His upside down soul was cracked down the middle, with splintered spider web cracks expanding outward from the center of the crack. There was no glass cover that my soul or Frisk’s soul had. Instead, it had an odd green shine coming from- _oh_. That was the shard of my soul, helping all of the splinters of himself stay together as if held by a bond of glue.

 

“See that little heart?” I was broken out of my reverie by Flower's frankly very petrifying words. He was smiling wide at both of our souls, hungrily looking at all of the colors, and zeroing in on the bright red of determination that burned in the very core of both of our beings. “That is your soul! The very culmination of your entire being!”

 

_Yes, I know this demon weed._

 

“You see, your soul starts off weak!” Flowey chirps again, that cheery, lying grin still plastered on his face. “But can grow stronger if you gain a lot of LV”

 

“Oh? And why is that?” I asked him, deciding to play the part if the innocent and stupid human that he expected me to be. “How do we become stronger?”

 

“What’s LV stand for? Why it means LOVE of course!” Flowey let out a delighted giggle that sent chills up my spine. “You want some LOVE too don’t you? Don’t worry, I’ll share some with you!

 

“Down here LOVE is shared through… little white… ‘friendliness pellets’.” He practically sings in happiness. And a circle of white seeds fizzled into existence, emitting a slight burst of light.

 

Yeah right. “Sounds delightful,” I responded airily. Frisk twitched beside me, a frown on their face, playing with the hems of their sweater sleeves.

 

“You betcha! Now, both of you, catch as many as you can!” Flowey smiled, and the bullets launched at us.

 

Frisk immediately jolted to the side, a pellet barely missing them, hitting the barrier and shattering. While I dropped to the ground, eyes narrowed as the bullets passed harmlessly overhead, pelting against the barrier.

 

“Hey buddies, you missed them,” Flowey announced. His eyes half lidded and his smile thinned. “Let’s try again? Okay?”

 

More bullets appeared with the familiar sound of magic, crackling and humming. There were several more than before, and if anything, they seemed sharper. They moved to us at the same speed, a little bit lower though, aiming for our souls. Purple energy crackled around us, unnoticed by Flowey. Gaster had cast a shield around us. As the bullets neared us, Frisk and I darted to the side. I went right, Frisk went left. I sidestepped out of the way of the six bullets that Flowey had sent my way, watching them as they passed on by warily. Frisk had dropped low, the bullets narrowly missing their hair as they soared on over.

 

Flowey was getting pissed, I watched as his petals twitched, his black eyes narrowing. “Are you dumb? Brain dead? Run, into, the bullets… Friendliness pellets!” He hissed out, the chirpiness in his voice was distorting.

 

He sent another volley at us, the pellets sharper, more deadly. I moved fast, practically flash stepping out of their wake as they buzzed on towards me. My reflexes were good, and not a single one of the bullets even got close to touching me as they blazed on by with a static humming noise. Frisk too didn't get hit once, they moved slightly slower than I did. However, a pellet grazed the shield that Gaster had cast. Instead of it bouncing off like I had expected it to do once it met the shield, it flickered and _passed_ on through, glitching slightly but never hitting Frisk. It had gotten _voided_ , all that was left was an after image.

 

Flowey didn’t even notice, consumed by his rage. That innocent look on his face was quickly, and quite literally, ripped apart, a wide gaping maw carving itself on his face, reminding me of a child’s drawing when they failed to erase the face correctly and instead scribbled a hasty, maniacal grin. **“You know what’s going on here? Don’t you.”**

 

Oh geez, his voice was even worse now. The childish tones were still there, however, the darker, more hostile voice that was an underlay was much, was much louder. Frisk trembled, the sight of Flowey’s face shifting sending a chill down their spine. I reached out a comforting hand and rested it on their shoulder.

 

 **“You just wanted to see me suffer!”** He shrieked at us, his eyes tearing revealing cat-like slits within the black sclera. His voice was warping and cracking, morphing into something from a nightmare. His voices were all screaming and wailing at once.

 

Poor Asriel, he didn't deserve any of this in the end.   

 

I heard something charge behind me, a high pitched whining noise and I turned around to see a gaster-blaster, large and imposing. It was composed of a deer skull, the branch-like horns looking regal and dignified upon its head. The white energy was crackling in its maw, letting out that loud shrieking wail as it burned and burned.

 

_Gaster._

 

Gaster’s form had changed. Reminding me of almost melting plastic. Before he had looked completely skeletal, the clothes he wore were neat and organized, crisp even. Now it seemed to be melting, the black coat pooling to the ground, the purple turtleneck, now white, was also blending in with the black fabric like goo. His face looked more like melting wax, his face twisted into a snarl, sharp and jagged. The cracks were wider, sharper, and I resisted the urge to twitch in fear at the sight of the orange and blue magic billowing out of his sockets. Multiple hands were summoned, the purple magic bright and vibrant, humming with pure power. They weren’t like his hands, with the smoothed bones still retaining a gentle look. These, however, were flawed, sharp, and dangerous, the fingers were quite long, almost reminiscent of needles. Taking a deep breath, I _pushed_ some emotion through the soul bond. Feeling my fear and terror bleeding through, the terror from Flowey, the fear from Gaster.  I didn’t want to be scared but seeing him like this, was honestly terrifying.

 

Flowey may have been offsetting and creepy, but he has nothing when it comes to a very angry, and very torqued Gaster.

 

Gaster paused looking at me with an unreadable expression as he sensed my fear and apprehension. He shut his eyes, the magic fading, and then reopened them, revealing his normal eye lights. The blaster paused, the white energy in its teeth fading into a white mist as it shut its jaw. It gave me a nod, bumping against Gaster, before glitching back into the void. I felt an apology float through the bond, and I pulsed back another response, it was alright now.

 

Turning my mind to the battle at hand, Flowey was still looking as demonic as ever. Frisk and I were watching with wariness as the barrier that the demented flower had constructed, bringing the both of us to the center of the barrier, barely able to move with just how tight it was on our bodies. Gaster himself merely phased through the barrier and stood on the other side. His posture was tense and could see that magic building up in his body was about to burst forth.

 

 **“DIE”** Flowy howled before cackling as a ring of seeds rotated around us, their electrical humming increasing in pitch the faster they moved around and around. I tensed up, noticing how the shield around us suddenly became brighter, it eased my nerves knowing that the added defense was still up.

 

As the bullets came closer and closer, Flowey’s laughter was becoming progressively more insane as the bullets moved forwards. Quick, but not too quick, for he wanted to draw out our anguish and fear for as long as possible.

 

However, just as the bullets were about to hit us, they suddenly glitched out once they came in contact with the shield that Gaster had put up, it flickered and glowed as the bullets disappeared, falling into the void. I watched as Flowey's face morphed into a look of confusion. There was a flash of light, and I saw someone approaching the barrier box that Flowey had put up. A fire burned in the person’s hands, swirling up and around their arms in flickering plumes. Flowey hadn't noticed, his sight too focused on the glimmering shield with a rancorous expression on his face, his teeth jagged and sharp.

 

 **“What do you think** **_you're_ ** **doing? Using a shield? That's cheating!”** He shrieked out, summoning another volley of bullets. **“In this world, it's kill or be killed! You can't avoid your fate forever. Hehehe! I'll make sure that you'll die here!”**

 

There was a blinding flash, and I felt the heat of fire caressing against my face. Flowey hissed as the flames burned at his leaves, but he was still undeterred. He tries to summon another volley of bullets, but another fireball interrupts him, scorching him. He lets out a cry as two more spheres of flame quite literally blew him away. He snarls and disappeared into the darkness. The barrier quickly shattered, and the world glowed with color. I glanced down at my hands, watching as my skin tones returned from that solid gray with a slightly mesmerized look.

 

The embers swirled around the figure, and we all watched as they brushed the dust off of themselves. They then turned around, letting out a gasp. The patch of flowers was illuminated by a single light, it was dull and despite this, when Toriel stepped into the light, she looked positively _angelic._ Her fur was a glowing pure white and looked incredibly soft. Her horns glinted in the low light, and she raised a paw to gently push back her ears. The dress robe that she wore was a soft purple, my favorite color, and flowed with the slight breeze that swirled around the room, the Delta Rune standing proudly on her chest. Her eyes were a warm burgundy and were slightly orange-yellow that outlined the pupil.

 

 _“Toriel.”_ I looked over at Gaster, who was staring at the Ruin Guardian with a soft, if not fond look upon his face, the formerly plastic look reverting back to the rigid skeletal look of his calmer state. He glanced over to me and gave me a weak smile. _“I haven’t seen her in a long time, through the voids windows yes. However, due to all of the timelines I’ve seen, I’ve forgotten a lot about_ **_my_ ** _Toriel. She had fled to the ruins after the 4th human died, and... I haven't seen her since. Until now of course.”_

 

He looked sad for a moment, before it faded, replaced with a look of melancholy. _“She was a good friend of mine, So was Asgore and Grillby.”_ He glanced over at Frisk and I noticing how we were paying attention to everything he said. _“Ah, but now I do not think that this is the time for old bones like me to speak, I will tell you about how we all met later.”_

 

I gave a minuscule nod and turned my attention to our savior. My hands resting at my sides, I paused feeling Frisk slip one of their hands into mine and I looked down at them and gave them a comforting squeeze in response.

 

“What a terrible creature, trying to torture hurt such poor innocent youths.” Her voice was very light, soft. It was pleasant to my ears, reminiscent of music as well as reminding me of my mother. She approached us with slow measured steps, her footfalls making barely any noise or sound. She stepped out of the light and joined us within the darkness.

 

“Hello my children, I am Toriel. I am the keeper of the ruins.” She announced with a gentle and warm smile, as she looked at Frisk I could see a small flicker of pain flash through the ruby of her eyes. And when she looked at me, I noticed how the corners of her eyes tightening, a look of slight apprehension flickering within them. I didn’t know why I didn’t seem that threatening or intimidating was I? Did I do something wrong?

 

“Oh dear, my apologies young one.” She addressed me, giving me a warm smile that eased my nerves, apparently seeing my confusion and hesitation, and was quick to rectify the issue. “You are an adult are you not? Judging by your height, and your form, I can only _assume_ that you are one. Most of the ones who have fallen down here have been children time and time again.”

 

Oh right, she was correct. I couldn’t blame her for her hesitation, after all when you were alive for the duration of the war, participated in it even. It was no doubt that she had encountered many adult humans, most of which were hostile. And then to lose both of your kids to them after being trapped in an underground prison for goodness knows how long. It was alright for her to feel that way around me. How she felt was not her fault. I would react in a similar manner if I were in her shoes- _er_ paws, anyone would.

 

“Kind of an adult Miss Toriel. I just reached the legal drinking age?” I responded hesitantly, as I shifted my feet from side to side, and gave a small smile when Frisk squeezed my hand to offer me comfort. “Am- Am I in more danger than the kiddo is? I mean, I know there's already going to be some trouble, but I can only assume at this point, after all, that flower just tried to murder us-”

 

“As much as I wish to hide the truth from you, my child- yes.” Toriel glanced down at the cavern floor with a resigned expression, and it made my chest hurt. Why did everything have to be so sad down here?  “As an adult, for as long as you are in the underground, the battles you face will be more difficult.”

 

“But fear not my children, I will protect you.” Her expression hardened, a fire burning in her eyes, and it looked like the flames of determination. Go goat mom! “Please, follow me. I will lead you through the catacombs.”

 

“Hey, Kiddo,” I said, calling Frisk’s attention as we fell in step behind Toriel, who pushed open another set of stone doors lined with the greens of ivy. They tilted their head up at me and gave me a look of confusion. “Would you like to walk with Toriel? I think she could use the hand holding right now.”

 

Frisk paused, before smiling shyly, removing their hand out of mine, and I felt a bit sad at the loss of contact. They scampered over to Toriel, who let out a joyous laugh that filled me with warmth.

 

**[Upon hearing Toriel’s wonderful laugh, you find yourself filled with hope.]**

 

**[Your HP and MGK have been fully restored.]**

 

I paused and turned to look at the source of the text box, pausing at the sight of the seven pointed star. It was green in color but grew more yellowed as it reached the center. Had I saved? That was new, very new. I turned to look at Gaster, and he seemed just as interested as I was. So, both Frisk and I could create save points? That would be pretty useful, especially if each save point could be used independently of each other.

 

...Only time would tell.

 

* * *

 

 

As Kira left the room where Flowey had resided, with Gaster following quietly behind her, the stone doors to the ruins closed with a dull rumble. Neither of them had noticed the black ooze that suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, splattering onto the floor shortly after they had made their exit. It continued to drip and fall down, collecting into a murky black puddle of liquid. Silence reigned in the room before it started to bubble and hiss. The puddle trembled, and something crawled out of it. It pulled and pulled, letting out clicks and dull whines as the goo coagulating and morphing until something stood crouched in its place. It blinked several red eyes before something opened on its body revealing a set of glowing white jagged teeth. It clicked and hissed, sensing the magic in the air.

 

Soon, more of the black slime began to drip down, forming more puddles on the cold stone floors. The original paid no mind to the others. It was thinking. The thinking was slow. But It could think. And that was all it needed.

 

It was so hungry. So _empty_ . All it could feel was empty. Nothing else. Couldn’t _feel_. It needed something to eat, to devour and absorb, to feel alive. It had been so long, so long, so long. Letting out another click it dematerialized back into a puddle and began to creep its way through the ruins.

 

_“Steal… absorb… Kill? No… Contain? …Yes.”_

 

* * *

 

 

The ruins were very... purple.

 

That was the only summary that I could come up with. The ruins lived up to their name, the stone cracked and worn with time. Vines and other plants still grew in the cracks of the walls and the floor. In the game, I recalled the ruins being very bright and vivid. However, as I found myself walking through the place myself, I knew that this wasn't the case. The chambers and hallways were darker, not bright and eye-searing, but more of a dull purple. Some of the light was coming from the plants, the magic they held within them providing light in the catacombs. There were also several lanterns, who provided the majority of the light, and were speckled throughout the building, their flames crackling and popping, providing enough light for it to be comfortable. In an odd sense, I found it peaceful.

 

I could once again faintly hear music, the soft notes of the “ruins” theme resounding within my head. I absent-mindedly hummed along to the tune as Gaster and I followed Toriel and Frisk into the ruins. I could faintly hear Toriel talking to Frisk, but I couldn’t make any heads or tails of it.  

 

“Doc,” I said softly, and Gaster immediately turned his head to look at me, a question in his eyes. And I continued. “How long have you known her? How many years has it been since all of this has been going on?”

 

_ “Before I fell into the core, I had been on active duty for around 1500 years.”  _ He responded, a sorrowful frown appearing, and his eye-lights flickered.  _ “I’ve known her for at least 900 of those. We had met before all of this had happened. We were around the same ages, I was 84, Asgore was 97, Toriel was 90.” _

 

“So, that means that you were alive for the Human-Monster war?” I asked, switching to speaking through the bond instead of aloud. After all, you’ll never know when someone is listening in. Several emotions were bubbling in my chest. “You’ve been stuck here for that long?”

 

_ “Yes, Asgore, Toriel and I were born before the monster human war. Asgore’s father controlled most of the battalions, but after Lord Asgeirr’s death, Asgore was appointed. We were in our 100’s by that point.” _ He sighed, a look of melancholy flashed in his eyes.  _ “I still remember the sun and the moon, but the thing I remembered the most about the surface, were the stars.” _

 

A memory burst forwards.

 

_The sky was an inky black- no, not black. But a midnight blue- the stars were painted and swirling in the sky like glitter. The moon wasn’t up today, the white disk of light in the sky that would bathe everything in a sheen of silver had been becoming slimmer and slimmer as the days passed. There were millions upon billions of stars up there, with all of the campfires extinguished, the light pollution was zero to none. The Font Family and the Royal Dreemurr family had gone for a trip in the wilderness away from the village. Things were doing excellent, especially with the new human arrivals to many of the towns and cities. The Mage Families, Humans Clans, and Monster Clans had been flourishing, spreading knowledge, ideas, and trade through the known world._

 

_The north star was a beacon in the night sky, and as Gaster concentrated on them, he imagined connecting the dots, just to see if images would appear. Typically none of the star patterns he tried to do worked, this one however did._

 

_"Gorey! Tori!” Gaster called out into the darkness of the tent that he sat against, and smiled when he heard shuffling. “You’ve got to come see this!”_

 

_The flaps of the tent, decorated with a winged symbol on its sides, opened up. Gaster grinned wider upon seeing his two best friends. Asgore was only slightly taller than Gaster was, wearing a light tunic and a golden chest plate, over that was a simple purple cloak. It dragged onto the floor behind the future king. Toriel was slightly taller than Asgore was, and her eyes were the same as always, a warm ruby color and the color of fire sparking in her eyes. The light from the stars was enough to cast a slight shadow on everything._

 

_“Howdy Gaster! What is it?” Asgore, small and young, he didn’t even have any horns, just small little nubs on his head, covered with a tuft of blonde hair on his head. He smiled pleasantly at the other monster. “Looking at the stars again?”_

 

_“Did you find something new?” Toriel asked with a wide grin, revealing her slightly sharp teeth. Her eyes flickering with a warm flame. Like Asgore, she was also small and young, a little kid. But unlike Asgore, there was no yellow fur anywhere on her form, instead, she had white and slightly fluffy hair, with no sight of any horns on her head._

 

_“Yes! Yes, I did!” Gaster chirped excitedly, clapping his bony hands together (there were no holes in his hands, just the smooth bones of his metacarpals). And he pointed an index finger to the sky. “See the north star?”_

 

_“Yeah?”_

 

_“Well, if you follow my magic, you can see.” Gaster concentrated, energy flickering in his eye lights, and he traced the pattern with a glowing finger. “That.”_

 

_“Is that a spoon?” Asgore said in slight disbelief, moving over to peer at the magic trail that Gaster had left behind. “I can’t believe that out of all the stars, one of the patterns makes a spoon!”_

 

_“Actually, I think it’s more of a ladle.” Toriel hummed, looking at the pattern. “Spoons aren’t that deep on the scooping part.”_

 

_“Ladle then,”  Asgore mumbled._

 

_“Still, I think that it’s pretty interesting in that case. I wonder if we’ll ever find any more of these?” Gaster mused._

 

_“I’m sure that we will see more. As the Bosses, we’ve got quite the legacy to continue on.” Asgore said with a light chuckle, looking up at the night sky._

 

_“The Bosses?” Gaster snorted with a laugh. “Another one of your names huh?”_

 

_Toriel giggled, bright and warm at Asgore’s expression upon Gaster’s words. Upon seeing her laugh, however, instead of glaring, Asgore’s fur went red and he averted his eyes. “That’s Asgore all right!”_

 

_“I’d like to see you try and do better Gast,” Asgore muttered but shrugged and smiled once more._

 

_“Give me a moment…..” Gaster paused, tapping his fingers on the hood of the tunic that he had on. “Ah! How about uh… Final Bosses, or Bosses of all Monsters?”_

 

_“Eh, all three of them work in my opinion,” Asgore responded with a sigh and sat down on the ground, the purple cloak pooling around him in a puddle of purple fabric. “Do you think we’ll go far?”_

 

_“Yeah. I think we will. We’ll see the world.” Toriel whispered, crossing her arms and sitting down on the grass. “Can you imagine? That there must be so much that we haven’t seen.”_

 

_“And what we haven’t discovered.” Gaster sighed, and he turned to his best friends. “I’m sure that we’ll get to see a lot in the future.”_

 

_“We can only hope Wing.” Toriel sighed, a gentle smile on her face. “We can only hope.”_

 

I blinked as the memory passed. It was an odd sensation to go through, seeing a person's memory from their own eyes and feeling the person’s emotion. I looked down the hallway of the Ruins and noticed how Toriel and Frisk hadn’t gone too far, if anything, the memory only lasted a good 4 minutes. In real time, however, that had all happened in a matter of seconds. I didn’t know how to feel about it, a large part of me was sad, that within several dozen years the war would break out. And that they never did get to see the world for its beauty, but instead through blood and dust.

 

Asgore, Toriel, Gaster.

 

They deserved to see what was out there.

  
If anything, I made me feel more determined to get everyone out of here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to comment down below. Don't be afraid to leave some kudos, cause I'm also Undertale garbage too! 
> 
>  
> 
> Have a lovely day/and/or night, and don't forget to drink water!


	5. Unnecessary Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ruins is a surprisingly large place, and with Toriel as our guiding light, we learn some things about the underground. With new information, battles and encounters with some ghosts, the adventure is now starting. Something is lurking in the shadows and rears it finally rears its ugly head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is at a grand total of 10,290 words, and it is over 30 pages long at a 1.5 space. This story is not beta read, If there are any spelling errors, grammar mistakes, or anything else that you notice, please tell me!
> 
> This story has a Question and Answer blog on Tumblr, at x-temporal-displacement.tumblr.com  
> Feel free to send me asks and such!

**LF STATS update!**

 

**Quest completed! Strange Flower. +250 XP has been given to all party members.**

 

**Team Leader Kira has leveled up! From [LVL 21 - > LVL 22] Now regenerates +3 health every 30 seconds. Requires +1,500 [XP] till next [LVL]**

 

**2nd Runner Frisk has leveled up! From [LVL 11 - > LVL 12] Continue time has been reduced by 3 minutes. Requires +600 [XP] till next [LVL]**

 

**New Quest: Toriel of the Ruins. +300 XP upon completion.**

 

* * *

 

 _(The memories were either something filled with fondness or something from a nightmare.)_ I mused to myself, as my bare feet scuffed against the ground. If I was above ground, I would've been worried. Stepping on glass or something else sharp was very common in certain areas. In the Ruins, however, I had nothing to worry about.

 

I honestly thought that the ruins would be more broken, cracked and falling apart just like the two caverns that we had just left behind. After all, that earthquake was definitely something else. I had never experienced anything quite like it before. Even though I had lived in California for most of my life before I moved to Colorado. Due to this, I was used to the small tremors and shakes that erupted from the faultlines. They were everywhere and went deep into the Golden State. But I had never encountered one like the one that occurred hours ago. It had to be at least a good 5.0 magnitude or more.

 

The Ruins still looked pristine, well, as neat and as clean as a catacomb can get anyway. There was no sign of any broken rocks or bricks. But some of the plants and vines in the walls had been shaken out. Some of them dropped down from the ceiling, brushing against the ground from where they dangled by their stringy roots. The vines were all a pleasant shade of various different greens and was still looking as healthy and as natural as the ones we would encounter subsisting off sunlight. Which should not be possible as due to the darkness of the ruins.  Perhaps Toriel placed some sort of magic over the place to keep the ruins intact? I had no doubts that the underground experienced somewhat frequent earthquakes and cave-ins. After all, if you recalled Undyne’s monologue, you could see that the mountainous area where it let to Hotland and the Core behind it, or the massive buildings in the Ruins and New Home. The underground was a big place, only a small part had been seen as people played Undertale.

 

I couldn’t help but wonder what other places were out there? Other cities and towns? Farmlands? It was a new adventure to embark on.

 

In all honesty, I kind of liked being in the Ruins. It wasn’t too dark or dreary,the place was filled with a calm energy, which was nothing like you’d expect from a mostly abandoned city. The temperature was also nice and pleasantly cool, not freezing, but just comfy. Even with my still snow wet pajama pants, the cold was bearable and felt good against my heated skin. Frisk was happily walking alongside Toriel further down the corridor their steps bouncy and light. Adorable! I looked behind me, seeing that Gaster had paused looking at something. His eye-lights were squinted, and was staring behind me. The expression caused me to pause. I quickly whipped around and scanned the corridor for anything odd or strange. I saw a flash of yellow and green, and I scowled as a result of the two colors.

 

_Flowey._

 

“My child?” Toriel’s voice echoed down the hallway, and I turned to look at her. They were standing near the two levers mounted on the wall way down at the end of the hallway. Frisk had also seen Flowey, judging by their expression, but Toriel hadn’t.

 

“Is there something wrong?” Her voice was heavy with worry and her ruby eyes were filled with motherly concern. And I found myself scuffing my feet on the ground with a nervous hum at the sight of her expression, it felt wrong to lie to her, but...  I had to do it for her sake, she worried too much, I’d hate to add another layer of fear and paranoia on her shoulders.

 

“O-h Oh no, I thought I saw something Miss Toriel.” I stuttered and glanced back to the hole that flowey had disappeared into. “I’m still a little bit spooked about that flower.” Well, that wasn’t a total lie.

 

“It’s alright innocent one,” Toriel responded, giving me that gentle smile that eased my slightly frayed nerves. “How about you join my side, maybe you’ll find your worries eased away. I’m quite the… **momster** you know?”

 

“You’re **kid** ding me!” I couldn’t help myself, I snorted at both of the puns and burst into giggles. “Oh goodness, I love puns so much.”

 

Toriel let out a delighted bleating laugh, and I grinned even wider.

 

...I bet that I looked pretty dorky, but who cares? It wasn’t like anyone was going to judge me horribly down here. Unlike above ground where it seemed to be everyone's goal to kick you down. Monsters were simply too nice. Well- except freaking _Jerry_ . I shook the mental image of the horrendous gray monster that reminded me of the stereotypical “nice guy” internet dude, out my head and _ditched_ it as fast as I could.

 

Oh god, we had to see him in the future _hrk-_

 

 _-I think that I just made myself feel mentally_ **_and_ ** _physically ill. Goodness gracious I am sooooo not ready for that confrontation._

 

I jogged forwards, shaking the rather disturbing thought out of my head as fast as I could. I paused as I went over the first bridge, looking at the blue water that went underneath the bridges in the hallway, the twin streams glowed a faint blue and I could feel _magic_ , swirling and light with an almost misty quality, slightly radiating from the surface. And as I passed over the second stream, I noticed how there were some tiny fish in the water, and I briefly wondered if they were monsters or non-magic fish. Who knows? The hallway was definitely bigger in real life compared to the game. That I found myself slightly winded as I fell in step behind my fellow human. Toriel gave me another warm smile, before walking across the deactivated spikes. The next room contained the dummy,  the stitching was neat and clean, with a white string. The cloth,  while it was a dirty brown, wasn’t too dilapidated or covered in water damage.

 

All in all, it was a nice dummy.

 

“As you are both humans living in the underground.” Toriel began, looking down at us both, something flickered in her eyes, and I found myself feeling sad. She was most likely remembering the other children who had come and gone. “You will encounter other monsters who may attack you. This is a fight, and both of you have already experienced one.”

 

“Both of you will need to be prepared if you come across a situation such as this.” Frisk and I nodded, listening to her words intently, a determined expression on Frisk’s face, and a wary one on mine. She looked down at Frisk, addressing them. “However, worry not little one! If you ever find yourself in a fight, you can strike up a friendly conversation.”

 

She then turned to me, a frown on her face. “My child, since you are an adult, the attacks towards you will be slightly more difficult. You will require to calm down a monster before you can do anything else.” And she brushed one of her ears with her paws as if it would distract her from something. “However... I believe that if _both_ of you stick together, the battle may even out.”

 

“Here,” She said, gesturing to the other body within the room.  “Practice a fight by talking with this dummy.”

 

“Alright, Miss Toriel,” I said with a small nod, to which Frisk mirrored.  

 

We both approached the dummy. Frisk with small steps, and my slightly larger ones. I found myself sensing something coming from the dummy. Whatever it was, it had a faint magical aura radiating off of it’s woven surface. If I concentrated, I thought that I could see a white upside down heart in the center of the dummy’s woven body. Radiating that same green aura.

 

Something in my eye _burned_ , and the world went black as the confrontation initiated.

* * *

 

 

Toriel let out a gasp as she watched the fight begin. A surge of primordial terror weaving it’s way through her soul.

 

She hadn’t known what to expect this night. The earthquake wasn’t an unheard of phenomenon, as the underground had many earth tremors over the years. But the sight of two humans was something she hadn’t expected.

 

Both had strong souls. The one who was just as young and as small as all of the other children who had fallen _(However this one looked so much like her little Chara)_ had a bright red soul _(just like her dear child. Oh how she had failed them all, it was all her fault- she was always to weak- couldn’t even stop them from going to their deaths)_ that burned and burned. Her soul hurt at the miniature revelation, and older human seemed to catch that look of pain, so Toriel quickly smothered it down. An adult, a human adult had fallen below.

 

This one had a multicolored soul, this was something that wasn’t unheard of. Only human children tended to have a singular colored soul as they would get older, new colors would add onto their souls, showing everything that makes them what they have always been. The adult soul’s dominant traits were show with a the strong layer of kindness and integrity, and she could occasionally see the core colors of justice and the odd red that was swirling in the depths of her soul. Protected by the glass case of a shield.

 

This had never happened, in the many years she had been here, she had never encountered an adult human. Neither of them had seemed to be particularly dangerous.

 

And Toriel was suddenly reminded of just how tall some of them could get. Even of this one was female. Most of the females who Toriel had encountered. Had been shorter and more skittish all those decades upon decades ago. In the present time, this human would’ve been considered abnormally tall for the standards back then. Even with Toriel’s slightly larger height, if the human was standing right next to her. The top of their head would barely reach just below her shoulder. Even when her instincts were screaming at her to do something about the adult, to try and scare her way with her fire. The sight of her in those goofy skeleton pajamas, with the cute little bones on the pants, was enough to ease some of her worries.

 

They were both scared of the disgusting little weed who had attacked them.

 

The child had been clutching their arms close to their chest, fear in those small eyes. And the adult was looking up at her with an awed, almost adoring expression on her face. It was nice to see, and it eased the pain in Toriel’s heart.

 

As they started entering the Ruins. Something seemed to change, the adult human seemed _shifty_ as if she was hiding something. She would keep glancing over her shoulder or stopping and getting a faraway look in her eyes. It was very odd. However, the human was never lying straight to her face, there were some half truths, but she was being honest when Toriel asked what was wrong. The flower had shaken both of the poor dears to their cores. It was in that moment when Toriel realized that the two of them were unlikely to hurt her.

 

Now that seemed unlikely, the adult human- no _mage-_ was using _magic._

 

The bright green flames of kindness were burning brightly in her right eye. Gouts of flame were licking at her tanned skin and twisting into the air, however it didn’t burn. The black pupils in her amber eyes had shifted, turned a bright yellow-green in a gradient-like manner. And to top it off, a symbol swirled in the center of the green, blossoming into a small five-pointed star. Her soul blazed proudly from where it hovered near her chest, the colors swirling in a turbulent manner, pulsing with energy that filled the air with a clean scent, almost lavender blended with a dash of mint.

 

The child was looking the elder in awe. Eventually, the flames flickered and died, but the green of her pupils remained. The mage let out an odd noise, suddenly crouching down to the ground and on one knee. Reaching up with shaking hands and cupping her hands over both of her eyes and letting out a pained moan. A health bar flickered into existence over her head, and some of her HP was subtracted. About 20 points, lowering the massive HP of 900 to 870. The child let out a noise of worry and gently patted the other’s back with their small hands, trying to distract them from the pain. For a moment Toriel thought she saw something, wearing black and a faint purple. It was standing next to the two of them, reaching out a consoling hand to the trembling human- before it flickered away as quickly as it came… what was she looking at again? Oh! The human mage-

 

_-Something was wrong, horribly, horribly wrong._

 

All Mages could always use their natural magic without damaging themselves. Even if they were young and inexperienced, all the magic that they would use would often heal instead of hurt. _(The mages had always wanted to be safe and secure before the war happened.)_ For the adult, however, her magic was hurting her, eating away at some of her HP, almost like a concentrated poison. This meant that the adult wasn’t, in fact, a mage.

 

Humans couldn't use magic, but what if a soul that wasn’t meant to cast spells tried to create its own magic? Then it would have been expected for the otherwise human side of the adult to take damage. Perhaps she was somewhere in between a human and a mage. The offspring of one of the mage and human families? Who had only awakened her power once she crossed the barrier, and fell below?

 

 _“Augh-”_ The human let out a brief pained groan before shook her head, running her lithe fingers through her hair. Standing up straighter, took a deep inhale through her nose, before breathing out through her mouth, and opened her eyes. She smiled gently down at the younger human who had practically glued themselves to her side. The child’s head was buried in her chest, and their hands gripping the fabric of her shirt tightly.

 

“Sorry kiddo” Her voice was strained, and her eyes flickered in pain, the bright green star dimming slightly. “I didn't mean to scare you, forgive me for that.”

 

“‘S alright” The child mumbled, their voice scratchy and weak. And Toriel felt her heartstrings pull, the sight was overwhelmingly cute, and even though the slight fear from the fact that the human could use now use magic at her own disposal. Toriel found herself more worried about both of their health. If the two were siblings, then it meant that the smaller also had a slight magic capacity, and if that was the case, then their magic would cause them pain as well.

 

“Let’s continue, I don’t want Miss Toriel to worry about us.” The elder continued and Toriel felt her heart warm at the simple statement. The human mage hummed weakly and took a few shaking steps over to the dummy. Until she was standing a few inches away.

 

She paused and looked down, seeing the ghost that resided within the dummy. And Toriel held her breath. Cotton had spent many of their years down in the ruins with her youngest cousin Napstablook and was a good friend of Toriel. Cotton had volunteered years ago to help aid the former queen, straying away from Waterfall and remaining in The Ruins. However, the now dummy bound ghost would be utterly hopeless if the adult tried to attack. The dull green essence of Cotton’s spirit faintly radiated over the dummy’s cloth covered exterior.

 

“I really like the stitching on your form, it’s really neat and precise.” The elder said with a warm smile, the comment was very pleasant to hear. And the genuine sincerity of the statement caused Cotton to blush, the green energy grew brighter in response.  “You must take extremely good care of it.”

 

And with that statement, the elder stepped back with a respectful bow, allowing the child to step on forwards. They mimicked the other’s bow, causing the elder to laugh lightly. _“I really like your button eyes, they are very pretty.”_ They signed, and Cotton blushed more.

 

The battle ended as both parties **[spared]** each other, Cotton’s aura faded and the ghost poked her head out of the dummy and gave the trio a meek smile before she quietly phased through a wall.

 

“Well done you two, you both did very well.” Both humans smiled at the praise and walked back over to the former queen. “I am very proud of how you handled the situation, so please, follow me.”

 

Maybe she didn’t have to worry about either of them.

 

* * *

 

Gaster was quiet as he observed the three as they continued down the hallway. He could sense something else within the catacombs, not just the monsters who roamed around, Flowey included, but something darker. It seemed to be lingering around, a heavy and sinister energy that had the former royal scientist on edge. He missed having the Void’s windows at his disposal, it would be a mere flick of his hand to see what was lurking in the edges of the underground. He heard a quiet noise, and turned around, his eye-lights narrowing as he looked down the corridor.

 

Nothing.

 

He needed to keep his guard up. Whatever it was, It wasn’t going to be some idle threat. The scientist scowled and followed after his fellow companions.

 

Kira seemed oddly distracted, she was still looking around the Ruins, her eyes scanning over every detail. Cataloging everything and saving it to memory. That was something that Gaster liked about her, she was as observant as she was kind. Watching the ‘second’ battle showed her attention to detail, such as the brand new stitching on the ghost dummy's form, or knowing if someone was hurting, judging by how she looked at Toriel with both understanding and sorrow. Several monsters were lurking in the corridors, they would only approach for a confrontation if the humans got too close.

 

Kira and Frisk jolted as they were both pulled rudely into a confrontation with a Froggit. The monster croaked lightly, blinking its eyes as it started up at the two humans. Kira opened her mouth to say something to the monster but was interrupted when Toriel strode on over. There was anger in her posture, and Gaster winced as Toriel gave one of her famous, and infamous glares to the poor monster. Even if Toriel couldn't see him, the glare was enough to make even him feel ashamed of himself. It croaked sheepishly, before hopping away and leaving two pieces of gold behind as an apology. Kira knelt down and picked up the gold, handing the second piece to Frisk, who placed it into their shorts pocket. Kira paused, looked at her pajamas with a sheepish look. She didn’t have any pockets. She mentally debated on something, before she gave an amused huff and shoved the piece of gold into her sport’s bra. Whistling cheerily to disguise the growing blush on her face. Frisk giggled at that, and Toriel snorted at the gesture.

 

“I’m quite a **golden** girl don’t you think?” Kira announced with a wide grin. Snickering as Frisk squeaked with laughter, and Toriel’s ringing laugh, before she scratched her head and blushed awkwardly. “Sorry about that one, I know that now’s not the time to make jokes like that.”

 

“Don’t worry about it dear one, as long as jokes like that don’t get too out of hand. I’ll let it slide.” Toriel chortled. “Come along, the next puzzle tends to get straight to the **point**.”

 

As they continued through the hallway, they came to a bridge covered in spikes, the water was glowing an even brighter blue, and it illuminated the room with a gentle glow.

 

“Well, I think I get the point now, It **cuts** straight to it.” Kira muttered, letting out a snicker. Before she found herself distracted by the water.

 

“Miss Toriel, why does the water glow?” Kira asked as she paused and stepped off of the path, kneeling down and placing her hand into the water, smiling at the coolness of the water. Before pulling her hand back out and shaking off the excess water. “I’ve never seen this before in my life! There’s no lights or anything that would make the water glow this much!”

 

“Oh, the water? Well, no one really knows for sure, but it has some slight magic mixed in.” Toriel gave the human a warm smile. “It’s enough magic to cause the water to glow a slight cyan.”

 

“This is so cool.” Kira laughed excitedly, running her hand through the river once more, the water swirling and the particles of magic igniting, a childish expression on her face. “Man, If I had a water bottle or a jar. I would totally take some to make a night light out of it.”

 

“Perhaps we can retrieve a glass for you later, my dear.” Toriel let out another laugh and relaxed even more. This human was something else. An enigma in the beginning, then quiet and polite at one instance, then childish and excited the next. “If that is what you want.”

 

“Really?” Kira asked, the grin on her face becoming wider and brighter, and responded eagerly. “Oh man, that would be so great, thank you!”

 

The human wiped her hand on her pajama pants, before pushing herself back onto her feet with a low grunt. Before walking back over to the trio who was looking at her with similar expressions of amusement. Frisk’s expression held slightly more adoration however compared to Toriel and Gaster, who were looking at the human with open fondness.

 

“Please, would both of you take my hands. I do not think that you are ready for this puzzle quite yet.” Toriel announced, and both humans walked over to her. Frisk with a happy bounce in their steps, and Kira with slightly more calm and measured ones. They both took Toriel’s paws into their own hands, Kira on the right, and Frisk on the left.

 

“Your paws are so soft.” Kira squeaked out, causing Frisk to excitedly nod their head in an agreement. “I don’t think I’d ever want to let go.”

 

“Oh deary me, you are simply too much for a little old lady like me” Toriel responded with a bright smile, the fur on her cheeks tinting a faint red at the compliment. “Right this way my children, please, stick close to me. I do not wish you to be harmed in any way.”

 

The spikes would let out a mechanical hiss before they would sink back into the ground as the group walked over them, showing that there was a trail going through the spikes. Some of the metal rods were sharper than others and had a more metallic sheen to them. It didn’t take long for them to cross the spiked bridge, and the two humans reluctantly let go of Toriel’s paws.

 

“You both have done quite excellently thus far, my children,” Toriel said with that same warm smile before she averted her eyes. “However, I have a difficult request to ask both of you. I would like it if both of you could walk to the end of the hallway without me. Forgive me for this.”

 

The humans turned to look at each other, Kira shrugging, and Frisk mirrored the response. Kira laughed and gently patted Frisk on the head. Causing Frisk to pout slightly at the gesture, but they didn’t make any effort to forcefully remove it. Kira eventually stopped messing with the hair on Frisk’s head when they both turned to look back at Toriel.

 

Or rather, where she used to be.

 

Kira allowed her jaw to drop. “Oh my, she quite fast. Don't you think kiddo?” To which Frisk nodded.

 

* * *

 

Gaster smiled at the interaction between the two. They reminded him of Sans and Papyrus when they were both baby-bones, and his soul that rested beneath his sternum twinged with longing, and he was quick to shake it off. The former royal scientist was rather impressed by the show of Toriel’s speed. She had managed to run down the entire hallway with barely a sound and in a matter of seconds. The only thing that clued to her even being with them, was the scent of cinnamon and butterscotch that she had left behind. Toriel hadn't seemed to slow down at all ever since she had retreated to the ruins, she was just as fast as he could remember. She had to be after all, as _Toriel of the Swift Embers_ , her speed was unique to the Caprine Boss Monsters.

 

“Might as well catch up with her huh?” Kira paused, looking down at Frisk with a suddenly devious smile. “Race you!”

 

Kira broke into a full on sprint, arms and legs pumping as she stormed down the hallway. Frisk let out a cheerful whoop and chased after the elder with a determined expression on their face. Seeing that Frisk was too far behind, Kira slowed down to allow Frisk to catch up with them. Which they took the added time with a bright grin, darting passed her with a happy squeak. Toriel, who was hiding around the pillar was watching the race with a fond and an and amused look. They eventually reached the end of the corridor, neck, and neck, however, Kira was once again pulling forwards. Frisk didn’t mind, however. Winning or losing? To them, it didn’t really matter.

 

All that they wanted was to do have fun.

 

There was a single smooth stone that Kira stepped on, and it caused her to lose her balance. She let out a yelp as her foot slipped forwards, and threw her hands in front of her to stop from landing on her face. Due to the momentum, she ended up sliding past the pillar on her hands. She quickly stopped and let out a hiss, sitting down on her haunches before looking at the cuts on her hands. The health bar appeared again, and another 5 points were subtracted from her **[HP]**. Bringing her down to 865.

 

“Huh, Don’t tell me any friction jokes, I won’t let them **slide** _._ ” She laughed slightly hysterically, as the red dripped from the scraped up, and raw skin of her hands and feet.

 

No one laughed at the pun.

 

Toriel stepped out from behind the pillar, a worry in her eyes and she winced at the sight of the blood leaking from her palms and onto the stone of the Ruins. Even with the war, the former monarch had never gotten used to the sight of any human’s injuries. If any monster were to receive a certain human injury such as a broken bone or a large slash, the monster would have died within moments. The humans, however, could bind themselves and heal up. Frisk let out a worried whine. Kira looked over at them, ashamed and ducked her head, her hair obscuring her face.

 

“Oh… oh... ouch.” Kira hissed out through gritted teeth as Toriel took her hands into her paws. Red stained the pure white fur a pink as Toriel gently ran her hands over the cuts. Green energy, flickered from Toriel’s fingers, tinged a faint orange wrapped around Kira’s injuries. “Oh no, I got blood on your paws didn’t I?”

 

“Don’t worry my child, it will wash out.” Toriel cooed softly, the magic eventually faded, leaving behind undamaged skin behind. “This is not the first time I’ve had to heal up a human’s wound.”

 

“It’s not okay... what I did was dumb, childish, and completely reckless.” Kira groaned and rubbed at her eyes with her now healed hands. Looking at the green energy that lingered on her feet. She shuffled in her position on the floor with a soft hum. “I’m so sorry.”

 

“Do not worry, my child. Accidents happen.” Toriel murmured as the last of her healing magic successfully ran its course. She gently reached up her paws and ran it through Kira’s hair.  “You only wished for your sibling to be happy.”

 

“Sibling? Frisk isn’t my sibling.” Kira announced tilting her head to the side, in response, Frisk turned to look at Toriel with a question on their face. “We’re not even related.”

 

“Oh? You are not siblings?” Toriel laughed sheepishly, once again pushing her ears back with her paws. “My apologies then! I just ah- assumed. Both of you look quite similar.”

 

“It’s alright. No harm, no foul.” Kira said with a dismissive smile and wave, glad for the topic change. She disliked it when she got depressed like that for a stupid reason that she could have avoided. “I wouldn’t mind if Frisk was my younger sibling, though…”

 

Frisk nodded in agreement, smiling at their fellow human and clapping their hands. Causing Toriel to once again smile at the exchange.

 

“I’m afraid that I may have to ask you both another favor.” Toriel stood up back to her full height, gently pulling up Kira along with her. The brunette staggered for a moment, before steadying herself. “There was a purpose for me leaving you, and it was for me to test your independence.”

 

“I must attend to some business, and both of you will be alone for a while.” She turned to look at Kira. “Child, I know that you are independent, but please hear me out. The Ruins are dangerous, and I do not wish you to be hurt. So please stay here.”

 

She paused for consideration before smiling. “How about this, I will give you both a cell phone! This way you can contact me whenever you wish for help. I will be back soon.”

 

She handed both humans a cell phone. For Frisk it was a black flip phone, the glass slightly cracked but still perfectly readable. The one that Toriel had handed to Kira was a Nokia, and Kira burst into laughter. “Of course it would be a Nokia phone, these are legendary in the whole ‘unbreakable’ phone myths!”

 

“I’m glad that you are amused, my child. My number had been entered into both of them. Please, be good.” With a slight bow to both humans, Toriel walked into the next room, before seemingly disappearing.

 

* * *

 

“Did you know?” I said quietly, as I fiddled with the phone in my hands. Running my fingers over the compact surface with my fingers. Nokia phones were always weird to me. “I never actually had a phone of my own. I always either used friends, my parent’s or the home phone.”

 

I opened the screen and pressed the buttons to scroll down the list of contacts, for there was only “TORIEL”. I pressed another set of buttons and changed the name to “Got your Goat” and snickered immaturely at the pun. Frisk hummed and I heard the telltale ringing of the phone calling another person. I walked over to them and sat down next to Frisk, who held the phone in front of them, pressing the speaker button, and the ringing echoed down the hallway.

 

 _“Hello? This is Toriel.”_ Toriel’s voice crackled out of the phone, she sounded concerned.  

 

“Heya Toriel! We just wanted to say hello!” I announced and Frisk gave a noise of agreement.

 

 _“You only wanted to say hello? Well, Hello my children!”_ Toriel laughed, and I heard her talking to someone briefly, something about cooking supplies? _“Is there anything else that you need?”_

 

Frisk nodded and affirmative. “The kiddo wants to say something. Go ahead Frisk!”

 

“Hi, Momma.” Their voice was so soft and quiet, an edge of apprehension and fear to their tone, and I felt my heart drop down into my chest. Not because they were calling Toriel “Momma” but the fact of just how scared they sounded, almost as if they expected her to say no or get angry.

 

What happened in this timeline to get them this hurt and scared?

 

 _“Oh?”_ Toriel’s voice was shocked, and Frisk and I could imagine the faint blush on her face. _“Did you just call me Momma?”_

 

“Yeah, they did… Mum? Is that alright with you?” I asked tentatively, more for the kiddo’s sake than mine. “We’d dislike to call you something that you do not like.”

 

 _“Would that make you both happy? If you wish to call me ‘Mum’ or ‘Momma” I will welcome it with open arms.”_ Her voice was happy and bright, but I could also hear it heavy with nostalgia. Leaving… leaving was going to be hard. _“I’m afraid that I must go now, be safe you two.”_

 

“Alright Momma, we’ll see you soon,” Frisk whispered with a small but very bright grin and pressed the end call button. They then slipped the phone into their pocket. And I found myself faced with another dilemma, I still didn’t have any pockets.

 

“ _Ugh_ , into the boob pockets it goes,” I said with a grimace and dropped it into my bra. “I should’ve asked Toriel if she had a backpack or something.” But I smiled as Frisk once again giggled.

 

“Alright, Let us get through all of these puzzles huh?” I looked over at Gaster, who shrugged. I don’t think he wished to stand around and be idle, something had him on edge.  “Toriel’s gonna have her hands full if she encounters the Annoying Dog.”

 

Traveling through The Ruins definitely was an experience, while it would’ve been easier to avoid other monsters as we could see them trekking around the various rooms and corridors. However, Frisk wanted to be friends and **[spare]** as many of them as possible. I didn’t mind this, having friends would be nice to have, I didn’t have many as I grew up. And all of these monsters were good people, so why would I complain? More often than not, I would back up Frisk in the fights. Monsters seemed to prefer encountering us both more often than not. Frisk’s battles were slightly easier, as none of them were really aiming at the Kiddo on purpose. However, the fights that I was in sometimes got significantly more difficult. And I was glad that I had more of a range of motion in these fights, I could slide under attacks, somewhat jump over several of them as well.

 

Gaster would mostly watch our fights, as he couldn't really interact with the other monsters. Nor would most of his attacks physically appear, the bones would just phase on through, or the Blaster would appear for a split second before it would glitch back into the void. The only thing that would work in our favor, was him occasionally throwing up shielding for us from the attacks that got too close. He would also offer us some help in fights too, whether it be finding new ways to dodge or actually predicting which way attacks would follow. He served in the war, after all, he knew much about magic-based combat, so his guidance was very appreciated.

 

We had each taken three pieces of candy each from the bowl, even though we both knew that it wasn’t a good thing, as that candy was for everyone. But when the mortality rate for humans in the Underground was quite high, what choice did we really have?

 

We moved through with relative ease. From giving the Froggits flattering comments that most of the really didn’t understand, but they were courteous and seemed to get what both of us were trying to say. Or the sweet little Whimsuns who could never hurt a fly, Frisk and I would offer them gentle words of encouragement as we danced out of the way of their magic attacks. More often than not, we’d give the poor dears a hug or two, alongside more words of encouragement. It was worth it, in the end, to see them smiling shyly in happiness. The moldsmals were a pleasure to interact with, even if I was battling alone, their attacks weren’t too difficult. Frisk and I even managed to get our dances in sync.

 

I noticed something, every time Frisk and I spared a monster, we would receive **[XP]** for whatever we did, the more **[ACTs]** we did, the more **[XP]** we would receive. If all three of us encountered a group of monsters, the **[XP]** would be multiplied for each monster we spared. Se three spared encountered monsters would give us around **[** **20-25 XP]** which added to our **[MRC]** Skill, which would coincidentally level up and give us a few added bonus points.

 

Frisk’s phone rang, for which I was quite thankful for. I didn’t feel like taking out my phone, or else I would risk making everything awkward. Cause hey! It’s so deep down into my shirt now. That I’d look like some sort of weird freak when I tried to take it out.

 

 _“Hello my children, This is Toriel!”_ Her voice crackled once again over the phone. _“For no reason in particular, which do you prefer? Cinnamon or Butterscotch?”_

 

I paused for a moment and considered the question with a mildly ‘intense’ look that causes Frisk to softly giggle. “I prefer cinnamon, butterscotch is a little too sweet for me. Kiddo? Which one do you prefer?”

 

Frisk smiled and signed. _“Butterscotch. I like how it’s sweet”_

 

“They said Butterscotch, they like the sweetness of the candy,” I reported to Toriel who hummed in acknowledgment.

 

 _“Neither of you would turn your noses up to either cinnamon or butterscotch if it appeared on your plate? I know your preferences but..”_ Toriel asked again. _“I’d hate for both of you to eat something you dislike.”_

 

“Of course not, If anything I’d still eat anything you cook. Mum, I don’t mind butterscotch as long as it’s paired with something else.” I responded quickly, and to which Frisk nodded in agreement. “They don’t mind either. Whatever you are doing, feel free to **spice** it up alright?”

 

I heard Toriel snort in barely restrained laughter over the receiver. _“Oh alright, my children. I will be around soon!”_

 

Once the phone call ended, I turned to Frisk and smiled. “Let’s keep on going ne? We’ve got lots to do and loads to explore!” They nodded and we both continued on.  Several of the monsters trailed after us, excited to see what the new people in their home would do. I could hear the satisfied ribbits of the Froggits and the gentle chatter from the Whimsuns who floated on by, Even some of the Moldsmals would burble gently.

 

It was very pleasant to see. And knowing that the ones we befriended were now supporting us for every step of the way, I felt something igniting deep within my chest, it was something that I had never really felt before...

 

It felt like… Determination.

 

* * *

 

I paused at the sight of something lying down in the center of the hallway, it radiated a soft blue color. Pain spiked in my eye, and I winced as I felt the magic build up in my eye, billowing with ethereal flames before it sparked once, the magic letting out a hissing crack before dying down. It took me a moment to realize that the odd blue transparent sheet was in fact, a ghost. Napstablook. Frisk looked excited at the sight of the ghost monster and they tugged at my sleeve and pulled me along towards the “sleeping” ghost eagerly. I relented with a light laugh. Our feet met the leaves, the dry crinkling of the leaves filling the room with noise.   

 

 _“Zzzzzz.”_ Napstablook’s eyes were clearly open, and his soft voice was repeatedly saying a long line of Zee’s. _“Are they gone yet?”_

 

“No, I’m afraid not,” I responded softly, and Napstablook darted upwards, his eyes wide.

 

He hovered in front of us for a moment before the familiar tugging sensation pulled our souls out into the barrier box, and the world fell into blackness, the colors leeching out of all of our forms. Frisk and I looked at Napstablook, and Napstablook looked back. Tears suddenly cascaded down the ghost face and dripped near us, Frisk and I carefully avoided the drops and winced at the sight of the tears hissing as they met the ground, eating away at the blackened stone.

 

“Oh please don’t cry.” I cried out, as one of the attacks nearly got onto me, hissing and sputtering as it hit the ground. “We’re not mad at you for blocking the way!”

 

Napstablook sniffed in response and continued to rain down tears. I sent a helpless glance at Frisk and they looked at Napstablook with a determined look painted firmly on their face. _“Really, we’re nowhere near angry, just concerned.”_

 

“Yeah, If anything we’re worried, someone as bright as you shouldn't be upset,” I called out, dodging another volley of tears.

 

 _“I’m sorry,”_ Napstablook whispered out weakly. _“But I don’t think I can stop.”_

 

“It’s alright,” I responded, sidestepping repeatedly out of the way of more tears, these ones, however, weren’t acid, and hit the ground harmlessly. “Take all the time that you need. Er- How about a pun? What’s a ghost’s favorite music?”

 

Napstablook’s tears halted, and he paused. “I don’t know, what is a ghost’s favorite music?”

 

“They listen to spooktunes!” I called out with a grin. And Napstablook brightened, his aura flaring a pale blue. “How does a ghost learn music?”

 

 _“Haha, that was a good one. How do we learn music?”_ Napstablook seemed to get happier at the statement, most likely since we had brought up his favorite topic. What a cute ghostie!

 

 _“They read_ **_sheet_ ** _music!”_ Frisk signed eagerly, and Napstablook’s tears stopped as he laughed softly.

 

 _“Hold on… give me a moment.”_ Tears started dripping out of his eyes once more, however, instead of falling to the ground, they went upwards. They put themselves together and became a top hat with a stylish gray ribbon. _“Do you like it? I call it the ‘dapperblook,’”_

 

“Yes, We do like it, it’s a very lovely top hat.” Frisk nodded eagerly and I gave him a round of applause. “You look quite dashing!”

 

 _“Oh gee, I usually come down here to visit my cousin, and I met three very nice people…”_ He glanced over at us shyly at us. And I paused, three of us? His cousin? _“You must have been the ones who had met her earlier...”_

 

“You can see him?” I asked with a dumbfounded look, gesturing wildly over to Gaster who looked as confused and astonished as Frisk and I felt. “And your cousin? The one within the dummy?”

 

 _“Yes, I can see the fellow ghost with you. Has no one else seen him? Was I supposed to not see him? Oh my, I’m sorry.”_ Napstablook apologized, and he floated closer at the mention of his cousin. _“Yes, her name is Cottonstablook. She was always attached to the dummy forms…”_

 

 _“No one really sees me anymore Napstablook,”_ Gaster responded softly, and he sent the ghost a reassuring smile. _“We were just surprised that you noticed me.”_

 

 _“Oh, well, that’s kind of rude of them.”_ The ghost’s sheet fluttered anxiously, and he glanced around before moving to the side. _“Am… am I... in your way? I can go if you’re annoyed by me.”_

 

“No, we’re not annoyed. Tell your cousin we said hello, it was a pleasure to meet her.” I responded with an easy smile and bowed my head. “We have to go now, Goodbye Blooky!”

 

Napstablook gave us another weak smile before he phased through the wall.

 

“Alright, Doc G. It looks like ghosts can see you... Just not other monsters.” I sighed, looking at the place that Napstablook had disappeared through. “It means that most soulless beings can’t see you. Flowey couldn’t because he’s using determination, at least I’m assuming?”

 

Frisk looked at me with a perplexed look and shrugged with a shake of their head, they didn’t know what was going on either, and I found myself shrugged back. “Yeah, I don’t know either kiddo.”

 

 _“Perhaps the void is doing some background work. It is a fickle being, always moving with a purpose. If it wills it to be, a certain result will occur.”_ Gaster announced with a helpless sigh, running one of his hands over his face, and placing them into the pocket of his coat. _“Only time will tell to see what corrections and damages that have been caused here.”_

 

“Sounds like a plan to me, I think we’ve only got a few more puzzles to solve, so we can easily blaze through them.” I started on, following the singular path that led through The Ruins.

 

* * *

 

The next set of puzzles and battles weren't really all that much of a challenge, it did help that I practically memorized all of the buttons and which acts to use.

 

I wanted to get that ribbon though in hopes of increasing Frisk’s defence, while I had a high level of **[HP]** Frisk did not. We willingly dropped down the hole, and sure enough, the red ribbon lay there at the bottom of the small room. I picked it up and held it in my hands, and I looked down at the tattered piece of fabric, and my chest constricted when I saw the faint splatters of dried and very old blood, a dark muddied rust brown on the otherwise pristine red of the light fabric. When the child had fallen down here, they had gotten hurt… it was no wonder how they took their last breath only minutes away overlooking the mostly abandoned ruins of Old Home.

 

 **[If you’re cuter, monsters won’t hit you as hard.]** A text box flickered into being, the green text bright and vivid. I felt hollow as I read the flavor text aloud. I waved my hand, pressing down on the exit button causing it to flicker and fade, disappearing in a flash of green.

 

“The only question is if the monsters are down here or up there,” I remarked with surprising bitterness, a sharp acidic sensation crawled through my being, as a result of the statement. My hands clenched, white knuckled and I breathed out in an effort to calm myself. This ended up causing Gaster and Frisk to look over at me.

 

Frisk’s expression flickered into something akin to… something that I couldn't describe, understanding perhaps?

 

I forced a weak smile on my face nevertheless in an effort to calm them down. And Gaster looked apprehensive, it flickered in his eyes alongside a feeling of sympathy and sorrow that bubbled through his side of the bond. I guess it’s due to the sudden emotional change that I was going through. I felt ashamed for letting myself get too carried away with my negative thoughts. And I knew that at this point, that I was projecting too many conflicted emotions running through the bond, which was rather rude of me. I paused, breathing in and out in an effort at clearing out my soul and leaving it blank, feeling the nothingness settle over me as I forced myself to calm down. I waited patiently before I sent a brief feeling of apology through the bond, and replaced the bitterness and the simmering anger with a calm neutrality.

 

With my composure regained, I approached my fellow human tied it carefully around Frisk’s head, turning it into a pretty red bow.

 

Facing the various Vegetoids were neither a favorite battle or Frisk's or mine for that matter. The fact that you had to attack the talking carrots to get them to spare us was nerve-wracking, I didn’t want to mess up and actually end up dusting them. The idea of having dust that-

 

 _-wouldn’t come off no matter how much I tried to its thick and chalky on my hands, no matter how many times I try to wipe it off it was stuck to my hands I can’t get it off- get it off get it off get it off, please stop let me go I don’t want_ ** _t_** _o d_ ** _o_** **_t_** _h_ ** _is a ny mo r e-_**

 

That thought- _memory_ was not mine.

 

I heard sniffling and looked at Frisk, the beginning of tears leaking out of the corner of their eyes. I reached out and placed a hand on their shoulder. When I was in pain, Frisk was there to take my mind off it by grounding me and now it was my turn to do the comforting. Not that I minded, of course, I always liked the kid and… it felt almost like it was my fault for just standing- sitting and doing nothing while people hijacked (the feeling of the unending struggle, fighting against the unbreakable strings) their body and forced them to do things against their will. Bile rose into my throat and I breathed heavily through my nose to shove the sensation of nausea back down into my stomach. I could feel Gaster sending me a few bursts of comfort, and I mentally leaned into the sensation and sighed.

 

I bent down and gently wiped Frisk’s tears away with the hem of my skeleton pajama shirt. They sniffled and gave me a watery smile, their eyes red-rimmed around the edges. I sighed and pulled them into a hug, their arms wrapping around my sides and I rested my chin on the top of their head.

 

“Alright kiddo, chin up. Just one more room to go alright?” I said with a wide grin, standing up and gently patting them on the back. “You can tell me what’s bothering you later alright?”

 

They nodded eagerly, smiling in that cheerful way that made my chest feel warm, and I gave them one last gentle pat on their head. I paused, and then struck a dramatic pose, thrusting my right hand high in the air and abruptly pointed down the hallway with a battle cry like noise.

 

“Onwards my friends! To adventure.” I whisper yelled, trying to not make too much noise. You never knew if Toriel was close by or not, with my appearance, there was a possibility that she might hurry somewhat faster. Frisk giggled at my expressions of grandeur and happily trotted after me with a bright smile. Gaster let out a soft laugh and followed in step behind us.

 

We were quick to stop by at the room in which the spider webs for the sale of Muffet’s goods waited. Through the many encounters we had all been through, we hand accumulated a decent amount of gold. I paused and sighed, I debated for a bit on what to do, reach in for the gold, or spare myself the hassle. Another idea formed in my head and I simply shook the gold out, watching as it all fell to the floor with a loud jingling noise, characteristic to that of a penny.

 

I counted out 14 pieces of gold and placed them one by one into the web making sure that it stayed within the, rather pretty purple webs that the spiders had weaved. I nearly let out a yelp as two spiders dropped from the ceiling, but my worries were quickly eased. Muffet’s spider family looked like the cute fuzzy tarantulas, which were the only type of arachnids that ironically didn’t manage to trigger my rather acute fear of most arachnids. It was a decently sized pink spider, that could fit neatly in the palm of my hand. Both of them were lugging a large sized donut, and I held my hands out. They dropped the pastries into my hands with a series of happy chittering noises and climbed back into a hole.

 

I handed the second donut to Frisk, who looked at it and shoved it into their sleeve with a toothy smile. How it stayed there, I’ll never know. When in doubt blame the void I guess?

 

We moved away from the Spider Bake Sale area and continued on through the right. We paused to chat with the froggit at the side of the door, with Gaster happily helping us with translating the Froggits ribbiting noises to something that both of us could understand. As it turns out, if we had been only minutes  earlier, we would have encountered Toriel on her way back to the house. I breathed out a sigh of relief, we had kind of dodged the bullet there.

 

We all walked through the door with me in the front, Frisk in the center, and Gaster bringing up the rear. I was looking away from the rest of the ruins, walking over and spotting the toy knife on the ground. I bent down and picked it up, holding it in my hands as if it were a poison. I wanted to so badly ask Gaster to just toss it into the void, but _something_ was telling me to hold onto it. I don't know what it was, but I knew better than to ignore my gut instinct. I let out a reluctant breath and decided to place it on my hip, the elastic from the pajamas pants keeping it in place. My hands felt slightly jittery, and I turned-

 

_Oh wow_

 

I blinked and approached the balcony, staring out into the caverns with a wide-eyed look. The rest of the ruins were literally laying out in front of us. I placed my hands against the cool stone on the wall and leaned slightly forwards. I glanced downwards and noticed that there was a set of stairs that led up to the balcony that hadn’t been there in the game. It was made out of that same quartz and purple stone, and it winded down like the coils of a sidewinder. Toby’s graphics truly didn’t grasp the sheer size of the ruins, and I found myself staring at the Ruins of Old Home with an agape expression.

 

The ruins spanned out before us for about a mile, revealing hundreds of massive buildings, all of them built with the same style. Through some of the more large buildings were crumbled and in literal ruin, I could find many perfectly intact buildings. And while the underground appeared to be empty. I found myself pressing magic into my right eye, and it ignited with its characteristic green flames. Using magic came easier, it didn’t hurt as bad as it did before. I felt my **[HP]** lower slightly, but I shrugged it off quickly.

 

Slowly but surely, monsters began to light up as my magic pulsed out. It went unnoticed, my magic drowned out by the much stronger pulses of energy generated by the barrier covering the entire underground. I couldn’t actually see them, but it was like viewing them with echolocation. My magic would pulse outwards, bounce around the various buildings and then come back to me with an image.  I could see many monsters, hundreds of them still living throughout the ruins. Some of them were wearing robes similar to the one that Toriel wore, and my magic pulse wouldn't let me see the colors, the mere shape and design were enough. Some had sashes on their waists, others had plates of armor decorating their gowns.

 

And it hit me like a bolt of lightning as to why exactly these monsters still wore the traditional royal garb. These were the descendants of the ones who had never left the Ruins. The ones who had followed behind Toriel, with loyalty burning in their souls as she fled back here to the underground. It was incredible to know that even though Asgore’s method would lead them to a quicker, darker freedom, they still accompanied Toriel in herself made exile, and were willing to stay behind and watch over the humans that fell down.

 

 **_“_ ** **_Magic? Yes... magic, lots... and lots....”_ **

 

Gaster hummed quietly, muttering something that I didn't catch. As I glanced at him, I noticed that he was pretty distracted. His eyes were narrowed, his form tensed. He seemed to revert to that gooey form of his, however, this time it was sharper. Rigid. Something was bugging him. Something had him, the usually calm and collected royal scientist  completely on edge, and it wasn’t the new sharpness of his form either. And I didn’t know what. I deactivated the location vision, the magic dying out quickly. the bond had gone perfectly silent, no emotion, no nothing. It had me worried. I shifted my magic to my ears, wincing as the sound doubled. I could hear the blood rushing through my body, the pulse of my magic and the beating of my heart. I could hear talking coming from the Ruins, the soft whisperings were quite loud. I could also hear Frisk’s pulse, it was spiking in panic. Frisk had noticed how both of us had gone deadly still, and they froze, fear rushing through their veins.  

 

I froze when I heard something. It was an odd dripping noise.

 

Whatever the source of the dripping noise was, it was near us. Very near us. It was very, very close. Chills ran up my spine, horror filling my soul. The air in the balcony suddenly changed, it was suffocating and the cold turned bitter in my lungs. The dripping noise continued before it seemed to get even worse, becoming wet and heavy splatters. I could feel it splashing onto my clothing from where it hit the ground too hard.

 

It let out a soft squelching noise, mixed with an odd disgusting slurp. Gaster let out a hissing crackling noise, static. I turned slowly, noticing how he was looking up at the ceiling. His face had gone to that completely plastic goo, cracking and morphing into a menacing jagged snarl. Something dripped down onto my face, just below my left eye. It was ice cold as it ran down my cheek. In a panic, I cut off the auditory magic and grabbed Frisk’s hand, pulling them through the doorway, just as something dropped from above with a sickening squelch. It looked _like_ Gaster, but not like Gaster. It was a writhing black mass of ooze. It was squirming and trembling, and I could only stare in abject horror as it shrieked, coming apart at the seams and _ripping_ into four equally messy pieces. It trembled, bubbling- frothing and convulsing. And that was when the eyes snapped open. Hundreds of them. All of them were a bright, bloodied, and toxic red. It looked around wildly, before meeting my horrified gaze. Mouths, ten, twenty, thirty, I lost count on how many there were as they opened up revealing white dagger teeth.

 

 **_“Found you!”_ ** It shrieked at us. Many voices screaming, wailing, sobbing and howling all at once in a cacophonous jumble of words.

 

Flowey was unnerving, an angry Gaster was terrifying...

 

**_This was a monster._ **

 

A box flickered into existence as it squirmed and crawled closer to us. Information quickly filled the black void in its wake, the green text sparking and flaring as the letters. I didn't have to read it because Gaster was already explaining it for what it was. Two of his blasters glitched into existence. These ones were solid however, they hissed and crackled as white energy flickered in their boney maw, lighting up the balcony and shining down onto the buildings...

 

* * *

 

 

**[Echoes]**

 

**[Advanced form: Requires LVL 21 or Higher to beat]**

 

**Echoes are the terrifying amalgamations of humans, mages, and monsters.  Who had been abandoned in the many battlefields during the human-monster war. And were left behind to rot, as the war kept of progressing through Europe. Echoes are created by the release of magical energy upon each death. As a mage shatters a human soul, the dust of mages and monsters will absorb the DETERMINATION that bleeds from the soul upon its destruction.**

 

**As a result of this, the dust and the blood of humans merged and became a black tar-like liquid. A liquid, that upon coming in contact to any magical being human, mages, or monsters, will quickly start to strip away and devour the magic. They cannot control their forms, the beings who make up this creature’s chaotic energy are no longer present, only a mindless husk. They have no mercy, no compassion, only the unending feeling of emptiness.**

 

**Echoes are powerful beings with no soul. A being that only wants to fill the void in its body with the stolen soul of another being, to replace what it had lost all those years ago. It will hunt monsters and mages alike, but what it loves to hunt the most, are humans. Who’s souls are so powerful, and have so much energy, that it could make an echo feel whole once more, regaining their original personality and form for as long as the soul lasts.**

  
**When an Echo is killed, the executioner does not receive [EXP], as this is considered a [Spare] or an act of [Mercy]. In more common terms: A mercy kill.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that all of you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm sorry that it took so long to finish up.
> 
> If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to leave a comment down below, or check out the tumblr for this story at x-temporal-displacement.tumblr.com!

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to comment down below. Don't be afraid to leave some kudos!
> 
> Have a lovely day/and/or night, and don't forget to drink water!


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